-Iijii!i!|l!l, 

■I 

11 

Section.iVrvJ.i  I 
No, 


y  "'-p 


SABBATH  MOENING  READINGS 


OLD  TESTAMENT 


BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


SABBATH  MORNING  READINGS 


OLD   TESTAMENT. 


r,EV.  JOHN' CUMMISG,  D.D.,  F.R.S.E., 

MINISTER  OF  THE  SCOTTISU  NATIONAL  CHURCH,  CROWN  COURT,  COVEXT  GARDEN,  LONDON 


BOOK    OF    EXODUS. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED   BY  JOHN  P.  JEWETT  AND   COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,   OHIO: 

JEWETT,  PROCTOR,  AND  WORTUINGTON. 

NEW    YORK  :     SHELDON,    LAMPORT    AND    BLAKEMAN. 

1854. 


CAiM  bridge: 

ALLEN  AND   FARNHAM,   STEREOTTPERS   AXD   PRINTERS. 


PREFACE. 


This  Volume  consists  of  expositions  of  the  second 
book  of  the  Pentateuch  —  the  Book  of  Exodus.  It 
elucidates  customs  and  explains  difficulties,  if  not 
with  learning,  at  least  with  simplicity  and  clearness. 
It  goes  over  ground  consecrated  by  stupendous  man- 
ifestations of  the  presence  and  glory  of  God,  and 
records  the  sins  and  sufferings  —  the  waywardness 
and  unbelief —  of  a  people  more  favored  than  any. 

But  it  is  not  a  dry  statement  of  the  past.  It  is 
full  of  practical  and  instructive  applications  to  us, 
on  whom  the  ends  of  the  age  have  come.  "  All 
these  things,"  says  an  apostle,  "  happened  unto 
them  for  ensamples,  and  they  are  written  for  our 
admonition." 

The  Jew  has  in  reserve  for  him  a  yet  more  majes- 
tic Exodus.  We,  the  Gentiles,  are  now  in  our 
desert  and  accomplishing  ours.  May  we  reach  the 
true  Canaan,  the  heavenly  rest  —  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem!   ■ 


Tl  rilKFACE. 

As  in  the  Readings  on  Leviticus,  which  will  fol- 
low this  Volume,  many  very  deeply  interesting  rites 
and  ceremonies  occur,  replete  with  evangelical  truth, 
for  which  I  cannot  find  room,  I  propose,  if  spared, 
during  1854,  to  issue,  for  those  who  choose  to  have 
it,  a  small,  cheap,  occasional  volume,  to  be  called 
"  A  Companion  to  the  Sabbath  Morning  Read- 
ings ON  THE  Old  Testament,"  which  will  contain 
special  illustrations  of  important  passages  in  Le- 
viticus. 

May  it  please  God  to  make  these  Readings  helps 
to  us,  to  "  read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest " 
his  own  precious  Word. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  periods  specified  in  this  Book,  are,  from  the  Death  of  Jo- 
seph to  the  Birth  of  JMoses years  60 

From  Bii-tli  of  ]\Ioses  to  Departure  from  Egypt    .        .        .      "       81 
From  Departm-e  to  Erection  of  Tabernacle  .        .        .        .      "         1 

"       142       1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Bii-th  of  Moses  —  A  Mother's  care  —  The  Ark  —  The  Sister  Sentinel  — 
Pharaoh's  Daughter  finds  Moses — His  Mother  is  appointed  his 
Nxu-se  —  His  Sympathy  with  his  own  Oppressed  People  —  His  In- 
terference —  The  Well  at  Midian  —  His  Wedding   .  ...    13 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Burning  Bush  —  The  Lord  Jesus  in  it — God's  Sympathy  with 
Sulferers  —  Character  of  Palestine  —  Borrowing  Jewels  .        .    22 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Mission  of  Moses  —  His  Hesitation  —  God's  Condescending  Assur- 
ance—  Instances  of  Divine  Power  —  Miracles,  Keal  and  Romish  — 
Pharaoh's  Heart 30 


CHAPTER  V. 

Security  of  Pharaoh  —  Interview  of  Moses  and  Aaron  with  Pharaoh 
—  Royal  Discourtesy  —  IMildncss  of  Moses  and  Aaron  —  Royal 
Tyranny —  Severity  of  Lnbnr —  Disappointment  of  Mopos        .       .     38 


VUl  CONTEXTS. 


ClIArXEll  VI. 

The  Division  of  tlie  Bible  into  Chapters  — The  Doubts  and  Fears  of 
Moses  —  God's  Condescending  Love  —  Jehovah  —  God's  Covenant 
—  Moses  still  Doubts 45 

The  King  tliat  knew  not  Joseph:  or,  The  Christian  in  the  World  .    50 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Gifts  —  The  Mission  of  Moses  and  Aaron  —  Hardening  of  Pharaoh's 
Heart — Miracles  and  Marvels  —  Rod  turned  into  a  Serpent  — 
Water  into  Blood 61 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Pharaoh  a  Type  —  God's  Doings  —  Nile  for  Seven  Days  is  Blood  — 
The  Plague  of  Frogs  —  Eg3'ptian  Ovens  —  Efforts  of  Magicians  — 
Sin  and  its  Penalties  inseparable  —  Swarm  of  Gnats  and  Beetles  — 
Pharaoh's  Relenting  —  Lesson 


CHAPTER  IX 

Reason  for  God's  Dealing  —  A  Precedent  —  Gou's  Reverence  to  the 
Constitution  of  his  Creatures  —  Plague  on  Cattle  —  Animal  Suflfer- 
ijig  —  Plague  of  Bodily  Disease  —  Plague  of  Hail  .        .        .75 


CHAPTER  X. 

Pharaoh's  Heart  still  hardened — Another  Appeal  to  Pharaoh  —  The 
Confession  of  Pharaoh  —  The  Locust  Plague  —  The  Plague  of 
Darkness  —  Pharaoh's  Terms  87 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Explanations  —  The  Prophecy  of  the  Last  Plague  —  The  Failure  of 
all  in  softening  the  Heart  of  Pharaoh 93 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Pharaoh  relents  —  Children  sufter  ibr  Parents  a  Fact  in  History  — 
Transubstantiation  —  The  Sacrifice  and  feast  —  Training  and 
Teaching  Children  —  Borrowing  Jewels    ....  100 


CONTENTS.  IX 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Great  Exodus  —  Numbers  of  the  Emigrants  —  The  mh-aculous 
Nature  of  the  Exodus  —  The  First-born  —  Unleavened  Bread — 
Written  Texts  —  God's  Discipline  — Joseph's  Bones     ".        .        .     109 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Eoute  out  of  Egypt  — The  Red  Sea  —  Despair  of  the  Israelites  — 
Heroism  —  Slavery  —  Moses  prays  —  God  replies  —  Pillar  of  Fire 
— Shechan  —  The  Dividing  of  the  Sea  —  Destruction  of  Pharaoh  .    116 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Song  of  ]\Ioses  —  j\Iurmuring  —  The  Bitter  Water —  The  Branch      .    124 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Murmuring  for  Bread — God's  Mercy  and   Goodness  —  Meaning  of 
Manna  —  PecuHarities  in  the  Miracles  —  The  Sabbath  .        .     130 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Nearest  Way  —  Murmuring — Thirst  —  Divine  Goodness  —  The 
Rock  —  Rephidim  —  War,  Prayer,  and  Battle  —  The  Glory  of  the 
Victory 137 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

This  Chapter  an  Episode  — Early  Courtesy  and  Hospitality  —  Jethro's 
Good  Advice  —  The  Cabinet  of  Moses 144 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Law  Expressed  not  Created  on  Sinai  —  St.  Paul's  Commentary 
—  Descriptions  of  Sinai 148 


CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Law  of  God 158 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Slaves  and  Masters  —  Reason  of  Toleration  of  Slaver}^  —  Lex  Taliouis    165 


CONTEXTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Judicial  Laws  —  Ancient  Money —  Buvglury  —  Trespasses — Lawsuits 
-^Strangers  —  MoncA'-lending — OlFences  against  Magistrates     .     171 


CHAPTEK  XXIII. 

Laws  against  Calumny  —  Excessive  Deference    to   Autliority — Ju- 
dicial Kules —  Festivals  —  'fixe  AngelJehovah      ....     177 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Moses  goes  up  to  God  —  Value  of  a  Written  Word  —  Responsibility  — 
Tlie  Sight  of  God— Our  Privileged  Place 184 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Tabernacle  —  Its  Use  and  Design  —  Its  Minutice  not  meaningless 
— Analogies  —  Places  of  Worship  —  Ecclesiastical  Politics  —  Exclu- 
siveuess 189 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Keasons  for  Minute  Mechanical  Specifications  —  Analogies  between 
God's  Work  and  Word  — Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  —  The  Vail  —  The 
Holy  of  Holies 207 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Reasons  of  so  Minute  Regulations —  Separation  of  Israelites      .        .    212 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Insulation  of  the  Jews  —  Every  Part  of  Tabernacle  its  Use  —  Christ 
the  End  of  all  —  Romish  Ecclesiastical  Dresses  —  Simplicity  — 
Meaning  of  "Holy"  — High-Priost's  Precious  Stones  —  Urim  and 
Tliummim  —  Pomegranates 216 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

No  New  Testament  Leviticus — Apostolical  Succession  —  OfTerings 
for  the  Priests — Return  of  the  Jews 225 


CONTENTS.  xi 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Levitical  and  Evangelical  Worship  —  Golden  Altar  —  Angel  by  the 
Golden  Altar — Atonement  for  Golden  Altar  —  Washings  —  Holy 
Oil— All  Nature  Tainted 233 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Recapitulation  —  Persons  Inspired  to  execute  the  Divine  Plan  —  Gifts 
and  Graces  not  always  united  —  Education — Secular  Teaching  in 
India  —  The  Sabbath  and  Sanctuary  Work  —  Sabbath  and  Crystal 
Palace 239 

Tabernacle  Furniture 246 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Moses  tarries  in  the  Mount  —  The  Israelites  seek  an  Image  of  God 
—  Aaron's  Proposal  —  The  Golden  Calf — Images  and  Idols  — 
Drunkenness  and  Pagan  Rites  —  Language  —  Repentance  —  God's 
Finger  —  Broken  Tablet  —  Aai'on's  Apology  —  Punishment    .      .    264 

CHAPTER  XXXm. 

Moses'  Prayer — God's  Glory  —  Heaven — The  Growing  Revelation 
of  it  —  Glorv  is  Goodness  —  How  God  is  Glorified        .        .        .    274 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Moses  prepares  New  Stones  —  God's  Apocalypse  on  the  Mount  — 
Moses  prays  —  The  Extermination  of  the  Canaanites  —  The  Expul- 
sion of  Romanism  —  Sabbath  in  Harvest  —  Fasting  —  Protestantism 
and  Popery 280 

Saving  Name  —  Moral  Glory  —  Howard  and  Byron  —  Each  Attribute  — 
Solution  of  Sinners'  Difficulties 287 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The    Tabernacle  —  The   Sabbath — Voluntary    Offerings  —  Alms    in 
,     Kind  and  in  Currency  —  Self-love  and  Selfishness  —  Zeal  and  De- 
votedness 302 

CHAPTER  XXXVI.  , 

Prescriptions  carried  out  —  Reasons  for  Minute  Specifications  —  Liber- 
aUty  of  the  People  —  Restraint  necessary — God's  Wisdom  given 
to  Builders 308 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Reasons  of  Records  of  Minute  Works — Tabernacle  Furniture  —  Tlie 
Ark.  —  The  Mercy-seat — The  Shechinah  —  Earth  related  to  other 
Orbs —  Church  of  Christ  not  tied  for  ever  to  a  Land —  Candlestick 
—  Christ  the  High-Priest  in  the  H0I3'  of  Holies  —  Skill  of  Israelites    311 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Continuation  of  Inventory  of  the  Tabernacle  —  Wealth  of  the  Israel- 
ites—  Looking-glasses 316 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Details  of  the  Building  of  the  Tabernacle 320 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Close  of  Exodus  —  Scriptural  Forms  —  Romish  Rites  suppose  the 
Kew  Testament  not  Written —  Altars  —  Oils  —  Holy  Water  —  Type 
of  a  Protestant  Church  .        .        .      ■  .    322 

The  Shechinah 328 

The  Vailed  Prophet:  or  the  Glory  Dimmed 347 


SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 


EXODUS. 

CHAP  TEE  I. 

THE  PERIODS  SPECiriED  IN  THIS  BOOK  ARE,  FROM  THE 

DEATH  OF  JOSEPH  TO  THE  BIRTH  OF  MOSES   .     TEARS  60 

TROM  BIRTH  OF  3IOSES  TO  DEPARTURE  FROM  EGYPT       "  81 

FROM  DEPARTURE  TO  ERECTION  OF  TABERNACLE    .       "  1 

142 

This  is  the  second  book  of  those  five  that  constitute  what 
is  usually  called  in  theological  language,  the  Pentateuch,  or 
the  five  Books  of  Moses.  The  word  "  Pentateuch,"  is  de- 
rived" from  the  Greek,  and  means  five  works  or  compositions. 
These  five  are  the  books  that  we  are  now  reading,  namely, 
Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy. 
Exodus  is  the  second.  Its  name  in  the  Hebrew  is  not  that 
which  we  usually  give  it.  You  are  aware  that  most  ancient 
books,  especially  of  the  date  of  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch, 
are  called  after  the  first  words  of  the  book.  For  instance, 
the  Book  of  Genesis  is  called  by  every  Jew  to  this  day,  and 
was  called  by  the  Jews  previous  to  the  birth  of  our  Lord, 
Bereshith  Bara,  —  that  is,  "  In  the  beginning  he  created  ;  " 
because  the  first  words  of  the  book  are  Bereshith  Barah 
Elohim,  etc.  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth; "'and  thus,  the  initial  sentence  is  the  techni- 

1 


2  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cal  title  of  the  book.  So  now,  the  Book  of  Exodus  begins, 
"  Now  these  are  the  names."  The  Hebrew  for  this  is, 
Weeleh  vShemoth,  and  this  book,  therefore,  whieh  we  call 
"  Exodus,"  is  called  by  every  Jew,  These  are  the  Names. 
But  the  name  "  Genesis "  was  given  to  the  first  book  by 
what  are  called  the  Septuagint  translators,  who  were  ac- 
complished scholars,  appointed  by  Ptolemy  about  three 
hundred  years  before  Christ,  to  translate  the  Old  Testament 
for  the  use  of  Hellenistic  Jews  scattered  throughout  the 
whole  of  Egypt.  The  name  "  Exodus  "  denotes  "  the  going 
forth,"  as  "  Genesis  "  denotes  "  generation,"  or  "  creation," 
and  ''  Deuteronomy,"  "  the  other  Law,"  or  the  second  edition 
of  the  Law.  The  names,  therefore,  given  to  the  Pentateuch 
are  comparatively  modern,  that  is,  they  were  given  about 
three  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord ;  but  they 
are  still  retained  as  being  sufficiently  expressive  of  the 
meaning  and  the  contents  of  each  book. 

This  book  Exodus  is  a  description  of  the  increased  multi- 
plication of  the  children  of  Israel,  of  the  attempt  of  the 
Egyptians  to  crush  them,  and  of  the  result  of  that  attempt 
in  their  majestic  exodus  from  Egypt  to  Canaan  their  prom- 
ised land. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  book  all  the  different  names  of 
the  tribes  are  given ;  and  it  is  said,  "  All  the  souls  that  came 
from  Jacob  were  seventy  souls."  Now,  it  may  give  some 
illustration  of  the  rapid  increase  of  the  Israelites,  when  we 
state  that  when  they  inarched  out  of  Egypt  there  were  six 
liundivd  thousand  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  besides  the 
accompaniments  of  women  and  children.  How  very  sad 
does  that  verse  read,  "  And  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  breth- 
ren ! "  All  their  envies,  quarrels,  misconceptions,  fears,  love, 
all  perished  in  the  sepulchre ;  and  their  souls  emerged  from 
their  earthly  tenements  into  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb.  Joseph,  the  good,  noble,  and  excellent,  died.  Reu- 
ben, Simeon,  Levi,  and  Judah,  died.     Their  bodies  went  the 


EXODUS    T.  3 

way  of  all  the  earth,  and  tlieir  souls  went  the  way  of  all 
spirits.     And  so  we,  too,  must  die. 

We  then  read  that  as  tlie  eliildren  of  Israel  inereased, 
"  there  arose  up  a  new  king  over  Egypt,  whieh  knew  not 
Joseph."  The  expression,  "  knew  not  Joseph,"  is  a  llehrew 
one,  and  denotes,  "  approved  not  of  Joseph."  For  instance, 
in  the  first  Psalm  we  read,  "  The  Lord  knoweth  the  way  of 
the  righteous ; "  that  is,  he  approves  of  it.  And  again, 
"  The  world  knoweth  us  not ; "  that  is,  doth  not  approve  of 
us.  And  it  is  not  said,  "  another  king,"  but  "  a  new  king," 
and  evidently  implies  that  a  new  dynasty  then  took  pos- 
session of  the  throne,  and  exereised  jurisdiction  over  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  and  this  new  dynasty,  having  received  no 
special  blessing  from  Joseph,  was  ungrateful  for  the  bless- 
ings that  he  bestowed  upon  a  previous  dynasty,  and  perse- 
cuted the  descendants  of  him  whom  the  former  kings  of 
Egypt  felt  it  alike  their  privilege  and  their  duty  to  patron- 
ize and  to  honor. 

Now  this  new  dynasty  was  evidently  afraid  of  the  growth 
of  a  powerful  people  in  the  midst  of  them  —  a  sort  of  im- 
■periuni  in  imperio  ;  and  although,  if  the  Jews  were  what 
they  should  be,  they  could  have  had  no  evil  designs  against 
the  reigning  power,  yet  the  Egyptians,  evil,  and  ever  think- 
ing evil,  said,  "  Come  on,  let  us  deal  wisely  with  them,  lest 
they  multiply,  and  it  come  to  pass,  that,  when  there  falleth  out 
any  war,  they  join  also  unto  our  enemies,  and  tight  against 
us,  and  so  get  them  up  out  of  the  land."  Hy{)Othetical  of- 
fences have  generally  been  the  ground  of  the  persecution  of 
the  people  of  God.  It  has  rarely  been  for  a  crime  proved, 
but  generally  for  a  crime  possible.  And  this  dynasty,  in  the 
exercise  of  what  it  thought  a  very  far  reaching  diplomacy, 
but  really  a  very  wild  and  foolish  hallucination,  determined 
to  persecute,  and  gradually  crush,  the  children  of  Israel. 
The  result  proved  that  the  wisdom  of  man  is  folly  Avith 
God.     Whatever  is  undertaken  that  has  no  sanction  from 


4  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

God,  never  will  have  any  real  or  permanent  success  before 
men.  All  success  is  temporary  and  "worthless  which  is  not 
the  product  of  enlightened  princij)le,  pure  motives,  and 
noble  aims  and  objects.  Therefore,  whether  it  be  dynasties 
in  power,  or  rulers  in  a  land,  or  whatever  it  be,  let  us  always 
be  sure  that  we  are  doing  the  right  thing,  in  the  right  way, 
from  right  motives  and  for  right  ends  ;  and  then  God,  our 
own  God,  shall  bless  us.  But  attempt  any  thing,  however 
wise  it  looks,  or  talented  it  appears,  yet  if  it  be  not  inspired 
by  principle,  it  is  a  rope  of  sand  —  it  has  no  cohesion  —  it 
must  fall  to  pieces.  Let  us,  therefore,  ever  feel  that  we 
never  can  do  wisely,  unless  we  do  well,  and  that  the  highest 
principle  is  ever  the  purest  and  best  policy.  The  dynasty 
that  succeeded  the  ancient  Pharaoh  did  not  know  this. 
They  thought  they  could  extirpate  God's  people.  They 
might  as  well  have  tried  to  extirpate  the  sun  from  the  fir- 
mament, or  the  fruits  and  trees  of  the  earth ;  for  the  ever- 
lasting arms  are  around  all  them  that  love  and  fear  God ; 
and  they  are  an  immortal  people  who  are  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Most  High.  The  Egyptians  found  here 
that  the  more  they  afflicted  them,  the  more  they  mul- 
tiplied. They  were  like  the  burning  bush,  for  the  more 
it  blazed,  the  more  it  shot  forth  its  branches  :  it  was  inde- 
structible. 

They  resolved  on  a  cruel  plan,  by  forcing  female  loving- 
kindness  into  cruelty  against  the  Israelites'  very  existence, 
and  endeavoring  to  extirpate  them  by  fraud  and  the  most 
infamous  and  profligate  means,  since  they  dared  not  pub- 
licly assail  and  attack  them. 

In  verse  IG,  the  Hebrew  word  translated  "stool,"  is  prop- 
erly a  trough  —  a  vessel  of  stone  for  holding  water.  ""  See 
them  "  is,  "  see  the  children,"  not  the  mothers  ;  and  the  real 
meaning  is  —  When  ye  see  the  new-born  children  laid  in 
vessels  of  water  for  the  purpose  of  being  washed,  ye  shall 
destroy  the  boys.  The  midvvives  did  not  drown  the  Hebrew 
•boys :  they  feared  God,  and  so  God  honored  them. 


EXODUS    I.  5 

But  before  the  Egyptians  did  this,  it  is  said,  "  They  made 
their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage,  in  mortar  and  in  brick." 
Now  it  has  been  objected  to  this,  that  if  the  pyramids,  as 
some  have  supposed,  were  the  production  of  the  chihh-en  of 
Israel  in  their  bondage,  as  they  are  not  built  of  brick,  this 
statement  cannot  be  correct.  But  the  Pyramid  of  Fayoum 
is  built  of  brick ;  and  thus,  whilst  all  the  pyramids  may  not 
have  been  the  production  of  the  children  of  Israel,  some  of 
them  may  have  been  so.  But  it  is  singular  that  on  the 
Egyptian  monuments  there  have  been  discovered  portraits 
with  peculiar  hieroglyphic  characters,  showing  strangers  or 
foreigners,  proved  to  be  so  because  they  wore  beards,  dig- 
ging clay  and  making  bricks  ;  and  Egyptians,  evidently  so, 
because  they  have  no  beards,  standing  over  them  with  rods 
and  whips,  lasliing  them  when  disobedient ;  and  the  impres- 
sion has  been  produced  by  these  remains  of  other  days,  that 
they  are  bond  fide  Egyptian  records,  referring  historically 
to  the  very  fact  recorded  in  the  14th  verse, that  "they  made 
their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage,  in  mortar,  and  in  brick, 
and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field."  It  is  most  strik- 
ing to  see  how,  as  antiquity  is  examined  and  explored  more 
and  more,  fresh  light  is  cast  upon  the  sacred  page,  and  new 
confirmatory  proofs  of  its  truth  are  discovered.  It  has  also 
been  ascertained,  although  this  matter  is  more  disputed,  that 
there  are  evidences  on  Egyptian  monuments  of  a  new  dy- 
nasty being  introduced  into  Egypt,  just  at  the  very  period 
alluded  to  in  this  chapter,  when  it  is  said,  "  There  arose  up 
a  new  king  over  Egypt,  which  knew  not  Joseph."  These 
are  interesting  facts ;  and  it  is  evident  to  us  that,  by  and  by, 
the  infidel  and  the  sceptic  will  have  scarcely  a  single  argu- 
ment to  wield.  He  has  now  but  very  few  and  very  feeble 
ones  ;  but  he  makes  the  most  of  what  he  has  ;  but  as  the  day 
advances,  as  science  makes  progress,  as  evidences  come  round, 
as  discoveries  are  made,  as  ancient  remains  are  ransacked, 
there  will  grow  more  and  more  the  irresistible  and  conclu- 
1* 


6  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sive  proof  that  tliis  Book  is  what  we  Christians,  in  onr 
hearts  and  consciences  and  firmest  reasoning  believe  it  to 
be  —  God's  inspired  and  holy  Word. 

Josephus  speaks  thus  of  the  period  of  Jewish  history 
referred  to  in  this  chapter  :  "  Having,  in  length  of  time,  for- 
gotten the  benefits  they  had  received  from  Joseph,  particu- 
larly the  crown  having  come  unto  another  family,  they  be- 
came very  abusive  to  the  Israelites,  and  contrived  many 
ways  of  afflicting  them,  for  they  enjoined  them  to  cut  a 
great  many  channels  for  the  river,  and  to  build  walls  for 
their  cities.  They  set  them  also  to  build  pyramids,  and  by 
this  means  wore  them  out." 

How  lowly  are  the  beginnings  of  the  Church  of  Christ! 

How  easily  does  God  make  the  place  of  the  persecutio'h 
of  his  sons  a  nursery  of  their  graces ! 

The  following  interesting  remarks  are,  I  think,  worth 
extracting,  from  Dr.  Hawk's  "  Egypt  and  its  Monu- 
ments : "  — 

"  After  the  death  of  Joseph,  sixty-five  years  elapsed 
before  the  birth  of  Moses,  according  to  the  chronology  of 
Dr.  Hales.  The  author  of  the  Pentateuch  distinctly  informs 
us,  that,  during  this  interval,  all  the  sons  of  Jacob  and  the 
men  of  their  generation,  had  died ;  and,  toward  the  latter 
part  of  the  interval  above  named,  the  fact  meets  us  that 
'  there  arose  up  a  new  king  over  Er/ypt,  ivhich  knew  not 
Joseph.'  This  is  a  particular  of  Egyptian  history,  in  the 
explanation  of  which  confusion  has  arisen,  from  the  fabrica- 
tion of  the  pretended  Manetho  about  the  leprous  Israelites 
under  Moses,  and  their  recall  of  the  shepherd  kings,  to 
which  we  have  already  adverted.  Some  have  thought  that 
the  monarch  of  this  new  dynasty  was  the  first  sovereign 
furnished  on  the  reintrusion  of  the  i)astoral  invaders.  In 
opposition  to  this  opinion,  we  are  met  by  the  fact  that  these 
shepherds  are  represented  by  Manetho  (the  only  authority 


EXODUS    I.  7 

for  the  return  of  the  shepherds  at  all),  as  coming  back  on 
the  invitation  of  the  Israelites ;  the  shepherds,  therefore, 
were  not  likely  to  become  their  oppressors.  But  further, 
according  to  Manetho,  the  Israelites  were  not  oppressed 
during  this  su|)posed  second  period  of  pastoral  sway,  but,  in 
conjunction  v/ith  the  shepherds,  were  themselves  the  op- 
pressors. Tiie  document  of  Manetho  on  this  subject,  there- 
fore, can  only  be  made  intelligible  by  interpreting  it  to 
mean  exactly  the  contrary  of  what  it  says,  and,  of  course,  is 
not  entitled  to  the  least  respect  as  historical  authority.  We 
therefore  reject  as  spurious  the  whole  paragraph  from  Man- 
etlio,  giving  tlie  story  of  the  return  of  the  shepherds  on  the 
invitation  of  '  the  lepers.' 

"As  far  as  our  investigations  have  enabled  us  to  discover, 
the  eighteenth  dynasty  of  Egypt  began  to  reign  about  sixty 
years  after  Joseph's  death,  and  the  first  king  was  Thothmes, 
T'ethmosis  or  Amosis,  or  Ames  or  Amos,  ibr  in  all  these 
various  modes  it  has  been  written.  The  chronological  coin- 
cidence would,  therefore,  suggest  that  he  was  the  king  who 
'  knew  not  Joseph.'  By  this  expression  we  understand,  not 
that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  past  history  of  Joseph,  but  that 
he  was  not  so  deeply  impressed  as  the  last  dynasty  had 
been  with  a  sense  of  the  services  Joseph  had  rendered  to 
the  state,  and  therefore  not  equally  disposed  to  acknowledge 
the  claims  of  the  Israelites  upon  the  Egyptian  government. 
But  why  was  this  ?  Because  he  was  from  the  distant  prov- 
ince of  Thebes,  knew  nothing  personally  of  the  Hebrews, 
and,  with  the  usual  haughty  arrogance  of  Egyptian  mon- 
archs,  probably  viewed  them  with  the  contempt  and  suspi- 
cion that  attached  to  foreigners,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
especially  to  shepherds.  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  has  made 
a  suggestion  on  this  subject,  well  worthy  of  consideration. 
He  thinks  that  the  Jews,  who  had  come  in  under  the  press- 
ure of  a  famine,  had  asked  and  obtained  a  grant  from  the 
Egyptian  authorities,  on  condition  of  the  performance  of 


8  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

certain  services  by  them  and  their  descendants.  This  is 
rather  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  some  of  them  were 
agriculturists,  while  others  were  shepherds  ;  for  we  read 
that,  beside  their  labor  '  in  mortar  and  brick,'  they  were  also 
employed  '  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  held '  (Ex.  i.  14) ; 

and,  in  Deuteronomy,  the  phrase  occurs, '  Egypt where 

thou  sowedst  thy  seed  and  wateredst  it.' 

"  While  the  Memphitic  dynasty  lasted,  Wilkinson  thinks 
this  grant  was  respected,  and  nothing  more  was  required  of 
the  Hebrews  than  a  compliance  with  the  terms  on  which  it 
was  made.  But  when  the  Theban  family  came  to  the 
throne,  the  grant  was  rescinded,  and  the  Services  notwith- 
standing required ;  and  thus  commenced  the  bondage,  when 
despotism  and  prejudice  soon  found  a  pretext  for  imposing 
additional  burdens.  It  was  pretended  that  the  Hebrews, 
who  certainly  had  rapidly  increased  in  numbers,  had 
thereby  become  dangerous  to  Egypt,  particularly  as  they 
lived  on  the  side  next  to  the  Nomade  tribes,  with  whom 
they  might  make  alliances;  and,  more  especially,  as  they 
were  not  very  far  distant  from  the  descendants  of  the  old 
invaders,  the  shepherds,  who  had  withdrawn  to  Palestine 
only,  and  there  constituted  the  valiant  and  powerful  race  of 
the  Philistines. 

"  Whether  this  pretext  were  well  or  ill  founded,  it  fur- 
nished the  Egyptian  monarch  with  sufficient  grounds  for 
treating  the  Israelites  like  captives  taken  in  war,  and  com- 
pelling them  gratuitously  to  erect  '  treasure  cities '  for  him, 
which  they  did.  All  we  can  say  of  this  conjecture,  in  the 
absence  of  positive  proof,  is  that  it  does  not  violate  proba- 
bility, and  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  details  of  the 
Bible  story. 

"  The  next  point  that  we  have  to  consider,  consists  of  the 
details  of  Jewish  oppression,  at  the  hands  of  Egypt:  'They 
did  set  over  them  taskmasters,  to  afflict  them  with  their 
burdens.      And    they   built   for    Pharaoh    treasure   cities, 


EXODUS    I.  9 

Pithom  and  Raamses.'  —  'And  the  Egyptians  made  the 
children  of  Israel  to  serve  with  rigor  :  and  they  made  their 
lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and  in  brick,  and 
in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field :  all  their  service, 
wherein  they  made  them  serve,  was  with  rigor.' 

"  I.  T/iet/  set  over  tliem  tashnasters.  This  is  perfectly 
Egyptian ;  and  exists  at  this  day,  with  the  single  difference 
that  the  Egyptians  occupy  the  place  of  the  oppressed, 
instead  of  the  oppressors.  The  bitter  cup  is  returned  to 
their  own  lips.  A  modern  writer  states,  that  'when  the 
labor  of  the  people  is  required  for  any  public  work,  the 
officers  of  Mehemet  Ali  collect  the  whole  neighborhood  — 
men,  women,  and  children,  and,  dividing  them  into  so  many 
companies  or  droves,  ajipoint  tashnasters  over  them.  These 
are  armed  with  whips,  which  they  use  pretty  freely,  as  they 
are  responsible  for  the  completion  of  the  work.'  The  mon- 
uments show  that  this  was  precisely  the  custom  of  ancient 
Egypt." 

"  III.  They  ivere  subjected  to  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and 
brick.  Bricks  in  Egypt  are  of  great  antiquity,  and,  as  we 
learn  from  the  Scripture  story,  were  usually  made  with 
straw,  intermixed  with  clay.  Thus  writes  Wilkinson  :  '  The 
use  of  crude  brick,  baked  in  the  sun,  was  universal  in  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt,  both  for  public  and  private  buildings; 
and  the  brick  field  gave  abundant  occupation  to  numerous 
laborers  throughout  the  country.  These  simple  materials 
were  found  to  be  pecuHarly  suited  to  the  climate  ;  and  the 
ease,  rapidity,  and  cheapness  with  which  they  were  made, 
offered  additional  recommendations.  ...  So  great  was  the 
demand,  that  the  Egyptian  government,  observing  the  profit 
which  would  accrue  to  the  revenue  from  a  monopoly  of 
them,  undertook  to  supply  the  public  at  a  moderate  price, 
thus  preventing  all  unauthorized  persons  from  engaging  in 
their  manufacture.  And  in  order  more  eficctually  to  obtain 
their  end,  the  seal  of  the  king,  or  of  some  j^rivileged  person, 


10  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

was  stamped  npoi-i  the  bricks  at  the  time  they  were  made. 
Bricks  have  been  found  thus  marked,  both  in  public  and 
private  buildings." 

"As  to  the  use  of  strmi\  it  is  proved,  by  an  examination 
of  the  bricks  brought  by  Rosellini  from  Thebes,  bearing 
the  stamp  of  Thothmes  IV.,  the  fifth  king  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty.  '  The  bricks,'  says  Ro^ellini,  '  which  are  now 
found  in  Egypt  belonging  to  the  same  period,  always  have 
straw  mingled  with  them,  although,  in  some  of  those 
that  are  most  carefully  made,  it  is  found  in  very  small 
quantities.'  Another  writer,  quoted  by  Hengstenberg, 
Prokesch,  says :  '  The  bricks  (of  the  first  pyramid  at 
Dashoor)  are  of  fine  clay,  from  the  Nile,  mingled  with 
chopped  straw.  This  mtermixture  gives  the  bricks  an 
astonishing  durability.' 

"  In  connection  with  this  subject  of  brick-making  in 
Egypt,  a  most  interesting  painting  was  found  by  Rosellini, 
at  Thebes,  in  the  tomb  of  Roschere.  He  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  call  his  comments  on  it,  '  Explanation  of  a  picture, 
representing  the  Hebrews  as  they  were  engaged  in  making 
brick.' 

.  "  '  Of  the  laborers,'  says  he,  '  some  are  employed  in  trans- 
porting the  clay  in  vessels ;  some  in  intermingling  it  with 
the  straw ;  others  are  taking  the  bricks  out  of  the  form,  and 
placing  them  in  rows  ;  still  others,  with  a  piece  of  wood 
upon  their  backs,  and  ro})es  on  each  side,  carry  away  the 
bricks  already  burned  or  dried.  Their  dissimilarity  to  the 
Egyptians  appears  at  the  first  view ;  the  complexion,  phys- 
iognomy, and  beard  permit  us  not  to  be  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing them  to  be  Hebrews.  They  wear  at  their  hips  the 
apron  which  is  common  among  the  Egyptians ;  and  there  is 
also  represented,  as  in  use  among  them,  a  kind  of  short 
trousers,  or  drawers.  .  .  .  Among  the  Hebrews,  four  Egyp- 
tians, very  distinguishable  by  their  mein,  figure,  and  color 
(which  is  of  the  usual  reddish  brown,  while  the  others  are 


EXODUS    I.  11 

of  what  we  call  "  flesli  color,")  are  seen.  Two  of  them  — 
one  sitting,  the  other  standing  —  carry  sticks  in  their  hands, 
ready  to  fall  upon  two  other  Egyptians,  who  are  here  repre- 
sented like  the  Hebrews,  one  of  them  carrying  u[)on  his 
shoulders  a  vessel  of  clay,  and  the  other  returning  from  the 
transportation  of  brick,  carrying  his  empty  vessel  to  get  a 
new  load.' 

"  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  remarkable  picture  should 
have  attracted  much  attention  among  the  students  of  Egyp- 
tian antiquity.  Heeren  remarks  of  it,  '  If  this  painting  rep- 
resents the  servitude  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  these  labors, 
it  is  equally  important  for  exegesis  and  chronology.  For 
exegesis,  because  it  would  be  a  strong  proof  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  Mosaic  writings,  and  especially  of  the  Book  of  Exo- 
dus, which,  in  the  first  and  fifth  chapters,  gives  a  description 
which  applies  most  accurately  to  this  painting,  even  in  un- 
important particulars.  For  chronology,  since  it  belongs  to 
the  eighteenth  dynasty,  under  the  dominion  of  Thothmes 
Mccris,  about  1740  B.C.,  and  therefore  would  give  a  fixed 
point  both  for  profane  and  sacred  history.' 

"  Indeed,  the  striking  character  of  this  painting  seems  to 
have  caused  an  intimation,  if  not  a  positive  expression,  of 
doubt  as  to  its  genuineness.  The  question  has  been  asked, 
'  Is  it  not  probably  a  supposititious  work,  prepared  after  the 
Pentateuch  was  written  ? '  Rosellini  first  gave  it  to  the 
world ;  afterward.  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  made  a  new 
examination  of  it  on  the  spot,  and  his  acknowledged  sound 
judgment  deliberately  decided  in  its  favor,  as  being  a 
genuine  production  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  His  judg- 
ment, it  will  be  seen,  is  entitled  to  the  more  weight  when 
we  add,  that  he  is  not  prepared  to  say,  the  picture  refers  to 
the  work  of  the  Israelites  in  their  bondage  ;  but  rather 
questions  it,  remarking,  however,  '  it  is  curious  to  discover 
other  foreign  captives,  occupied  in  the  same  manner,  over- 
looked by  similar  "  taskmasters,"  and  performing  the  very 


12  SCKirTURE    HEADINGS. 

same  labors  as  the  Israelites  described  in  the  Bible ;  and  no 
one  can  look  at  the  paintings  of  Thebes,  representing  brick- 
makers,  without  a  feeling  of  the  highest  interest.'  " 

The  intensely  interesting  nature  and  illustrative  char- 
acter of  these  extracts,  justify  the  long  quotation  I  have 
given. 


CHAPTER    II. 

BIKTH  OF  MOSES.  A  MOTHER'S  CARE.  THE  ARK.  THE  SISTER 
SENTINEL.  PHARAOIl's  DAUGHTER  FINDS  MOSES.  HIS  MOTHER 
IS  APPOINTED  HIS  NURSE.  HIS  SYMPATHY  WITH  HIS  OAVN 
OPPRESSED  PEOPLE.  HIS  INTERFERENCE.  THE  WELL  AT 
MIDIAN.      HIS    WEDDING. 

You  will  recollect  the  statement,  recorded  in  the  previous 
chapter,  that  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Egyptian  tyrant,  that 
every  male  Hebrew  child  should  be  put  to  death  as  soon  as 
born,  because  he  feared,  or  pretended  to  fear,  that,  if  the 
Israelites  grew  up  and  became  numerous,  they  would  depose 
him,  and  appoint  a  monarch,  of  their  own  race,  to  sit  upon 
the  Egyptian  throne.  We  now  enter  on  the  wondrous 
biography  of  an  individual,  over  whom  especially  were  the 
overshadowing  wings  of  Providence,  and  in  whom  were 
great  destinies.  He  had  an  important  and  illustrious  part 
to  play  in  the  future  history  of  God's  ancient  people,  in 
the  preparation  for  the  Messiah,  and  also  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  Divine  economy  which  made  way  for,  and  un- 
bosomed by  degrees,  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

It  appears  in  this  record,  that,  when  Moses  was  born,  his 
mother  saw  "that  he  was  a  goodly  child,"  or,  as  he  is  called 
by  Stephen,  when  remonstrating  and  reasoning  with  them 
who  were  about  to  murder  him,  "exceeding  fair"  —  j]v  ug- 
teIoq  rcj  Gecj  —  that  is,  "  beautiful  before  God ; "  and  the 
Apostle  Paul,  in  alluding  to  the  same  event  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  ascribes  the  hiding  of  Moses  to  faith,  and 
the  reason  that  prompted  his  mother,  Jochebed,  to  hide  him 
2 


14  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

from  the  assaults  of  Pharaoh,  to  some  bright  signature  on 
the  infant's  brow.  We  read  in  Hebrews  xi.,  "  By  faith 
Moses,  when  he  was  born,  was  hid  three  months  of  his 
parents,  because  they  saw  he  was  a  proper  child,"  or,  as 
rendered  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  "  exceeding  fair  ;  '* 
"  And  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king's  commandment.'' 
Now,  what  this  "  fairness  "  can  have  been,  it  is  impossible, 
with  accuracy,  to  say.  No  doubt  every  mother  thinks  her 
own  child  the  fairest ;  but  on  this  child  there  was  some 
Divine  signature ;  some  aureole  around  his  head ;  some 
bright  evidence  of  a  destiny  before  him  more  than  human ; 
and  of  a  relationship  that  predicted  something  in  his  char- 
acter and  history  greater  than  ordinary.  And  therefore,  on 
this  account,  as  well  as  from  maternal  instinct,  strong 
enough  in  ordinary  circumstances,  she  took  him,  and 
resolved  to  hide  him  three  months.  But  when  the  hiding 
of  him  longer  than  three  months  became  impossible  —  per- 
haps from  the  searchers  of  Pharaoh,  or  perhaps  from  the 
fears  she  entertained  lest  some  one  should  inform  of  the  cir- 
cumstance, she  made  her  election,  and  chose  to  trust  her 
dear  babe  rather  to  the  mercy  of  the  crocodiles,  the  winds, 
and  the  waves,  than  keep  him  any  longer  within  reach  of 
the  cruel  tyrant  who  then  occupied  the  throne.  Mothers  of 
England,  how  privileged  are  ye !  She  therefore,  with  all 
the  inventiveness  of  maternal  instinct  and  love,  collected  the 
papyrus,  which  no  doubt  was  the  substance  out  of  which  the 
ark  or  basket  was  made,  and  out  of  which  boats  are  still 
constructed  on  the  Nile  —  and  fastened  its  different  parts 
together  with  "  slime,"  or  bitumen,  and  lastly,  the  outside  of 
it  she  covered  with  pitch,  to  protect  it  from  the  ingress  of 
water.  She  then  placed  it,  not  upon  the  river,  where  it 
would  be  borne  with  the  current  to  the  sea,  but  among  the 
bulrushes  —  that  is,  at  some  distance  from  the  banks,  but 
not  far  enough  to  come  within  the  current,  and  be  carried 
down  with  the  stream.     But  not  satisfied  with  these  pre- 


EXODUS    II.  15 

cautions,  she  resolved  to  set  a  sentinel  to  watch  the  child, 
probably  to  give  the  alarm  sho.  Jd  any  wild  beasts  approach, 
or,  still  worse,  should  any  persons,  searching  for  male 
infants,  threaten  to  come  near.  She  therefore  placed  the 
sister  of  Moses  (of  course  the  female  children  were  not  ob- 
noxious to  Pharaoh)  "  afar  off,  to  wit,"  or  ascertain,  "  what 
would  be  done  to  him."  Having  thus  placed  this  sentinel, 
whose  guardian  care  was  increased  by  affection,  and  whose 
watchmanship  was  made  more  secure  by  the  inspection  of 
the  distant  eye  of  the  mother  herself,  both  watched  through 
weary  days  and  nights,  till,  it  is  said,  "The  daughter  of 
Pharaoh  came  down  to  wash  herself  at  the  river."  This  is 
not  the  exact  description  of  her  purpose.  Her  object  was, 
to  perform  some  religious  rite.  The  river  Nile  was  the 
most  sacred  thing  in  Egypt ;  and  most  of  their  religious 
rites  and  ceremonies  were  connected  with  the  river  and  its 
sacredness.  Her  "  maidens,"  or  ladies  in  waiting,  "  walked 
along  by  the  river's  side ; "  the  strange  object  caught  her 
attention ;  and,  when  she  saw  the  ark  among  the  flags,  "  she 
sent  her  maid  to  fetch  it."  You  can  well  conceive  what  was 
the  terror  of  the  sentinel  sister,  and,  still  more,  the  agitation 
and  alarm  of  the  sentinel  mother.  "And  when  she  had 
opened  it,  she  saw  the  child ;  and,  behold "  —  the  world 
would  say,  accidentally,  but  a  Christian  must  say,  by  the 
good  providence  of  God  —  "the  babe  wept."  This  was  a 
spectacle  too  touching  for  Pharaoh's  daughter  to  resist ;  and, 
therefore,  with  true  womanly  feeling,  in  language  so  plain 
that  it  indicates  the  truth  of  the  narrative,  "  she  had 
compassion  on  him,  and  said.  This  is  one  of  the  Hebrews' 
children." 

Making  the  best  of  the  emergency,  the  sentinel  sister, 
who  stood  b}^,  ran  up  to  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and,  not  telling 
what  was  untrue,  but  not  stating,  as  she  was  not  called  upon 
to  state,  what  was  all  the  fact,  she  said,  "  Shall  I  go  and 
call  to  thee  a  nurse  of  the  Hebrew  women,  that  she  may 


16  SCUIPTURE    READINGS. 

nurse  the  child  for  thee  ?  "  As  it  happens  to  be  a  Hebrew 
child,  and  of  very  tender  years,  you  would,  no  doubt,  like  a 
Hebrew  nurse  for  it.  Will  your  royal  highness,  therefore, 
trust  me  to  find  one  for  this  child,  whose  beauty  so  charms 
you,  whom  you  have  picked  up  accidentally  in  the  river  ? 
AYell,  the  thought  was  so  very  natural  and  reasonable,  that 
Pharaoh's  daughter  said  instantly,  "  Go.  And  the  maid 
went,  and  called  the  child's  mother."  Here  is  a  specimen 
of  Christian  stratagem  —  that  is,  stratagem  warranted  by 
Christian  principles.  It  was  in  no  respect,  that  I  can  see, 
inconsistent  with  the  sincerity  and  candor  of  Christian 
character.  Forthwith  the  mother  came;  and  Pharaoh's 
daughter  said  to  her,  little  suspecting  she  was  the  mother, 
"  Take  this  child  away,  and  nurse  it  for  me ; "  and  she 
added,  "  I  will  give  thee  thy  wages."  The  mother  could 
have  said,  what  the  safety  of  the  babe  prevented  her  say- 
ing, "  I  want  no  wages ;  my  reward  will  be  the  privilege  of 
nursing  this  babe;"  but,  with  thorough  tact  and  manage- 
ment, and  yet  with  the  propriety  and  consistency  of  a  Chris- 
tian, she  took  the  child,  and,  without  a  word  about  the 
wages,  silently  and  thankfully  became  its  nurse ;  "  and  he 
became,"  by  adoption,  as  customary  in  Egypt,  the  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter.  "And  she  called  his  name  Moses," 
from  the  Hebrew  verb  3Iashah,  which  means  to  "draw 
out."  The  Egyptian  lady  gave  the  Hebrew  babe  a  Hebrew 
name. 

"And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  when  Moses  was 
grown "  —  according  to  the  statement  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  when  he  was  forty  years  old  —  "that  he  went  out 
unto  his  brethren."  You  see  where  his  heart  was.  He 
was  in  a  royal  palace,  where,  as  an  adopted  son,  he  was 
treated  exactly  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  the  king's  own 
children ;  and  yet  his  heart  seems  to  have  grown  more  and 
more  insensible  to  the  splendor,  dignity,  and  equipage  of  a 
palace,  and  to  have  had  its  deepest  sympathies  with  his  poor 


EXODUS    II.  17 

countrymen,  groaning  under  the  oppression  of  Pharaoh. 
"  By  faith,"  says  the  apostle,  "  Moses,  when  lie  was  come  to 
years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter : 
choosing  rather  to  suffer  afiliction  with  the  people  of  God, 
than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season."  He  W'Ould 
rather  be  a  Christian  brickmaker,  than  an  Egyptian  pi-ime 
minister.  Such  is  the  force  of  faith,  the  victory  that  over- 
come tli  the  world. 

"  He  spied  an  Egyptian,"  it  is  said,  "  smiting  an  Hebrew, 
one  of  his  brethren."  That  was  a  command  for  him  in- 
stantly to  interpose.  "And  he  looked  this  way  and  that 
■way  "  —  not  as  if  he  knew^  that  he  was  going  to  do  a  bad 
deed,  but,  as  the  original  denotes,  he  hesitated,  as  if  to  say, 
Is  this  the  time  for  it  ?  "  ^nd  when  he  saw  that  there  was 
no  man  "  —  probably  to  help  —  "  he  slew  the  Egyptian,  and 
hid  him  in  the  sand."  Now  it  happens,  that,  according  to 
Josephus,  there  was  a  law  in  Egypt,  that,  if  two  men  were 
seen  fighting  together  in  mortal  conflict,  a  spectator  might 
interfere,  even  though  he  took  away  the  life  of  one  of 
them.  Moses,  therefore,  did  not  do  a  thing  unlawful,  ac- 
cording to  Egyptian  law ;  but  he  did  a  thing  unpardonable 
to  Egyptian  feelings,  and  therefore  he  might  expect  to  suffer 
for  it.  Diodorus  Siculus  states,  that  the  laws  of  Egypt 
warranted  such  a  deed. 

Well,  having  thus  saved  an  Israelite  from  the  fangs  of  a 
fierce  Egyptian,  "  behold,  (what  was  unseemly  enough,)  two 
men  of  the  Hebrews  strove  together;  and  Moses  said  to 
him  that  did  the  wrong"  (what  was  a  most  Christian 
remark),  "  Wherefore  smitest  thou  thy  fellow?  "  And  now 
see  how  little  encouragement  he  had  to  help  them  who 
would  not  help  themselves.  This  Hebrew  said  to  him,  who 
had  given  up  rank,  patronage,  and  power,  in  order  to  assist 
his  countrymen,  "  Who  made  thee  a  prince  and  a  judge  over 
us  ?  Intendest  thou  to  kill  me,  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyp- 
tian ?  "  Ungrateful  answer !  If  Moses  had  been  a  worldly 
2* 


18  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

man,  lie  would  have  said,  "  I  see  I  get  no  thanks  for  doing 
good ;  I  shall  return  to  the  palace,  and  leave  the  wretched 
Hebrews  to  work  out  their  own  deliverance."  But,  my 
dear  friends,  when  we  do  good,  we  are  not  to  do  it  witli  the 
prosjiect  of  receiving  thanks.  If  you  do  so,  vvhat  better 
are  you  than  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  ?  We  are  to  do 
good,  because  it  is  good,  and  because  it  is  duty.  If  the 
thanks  come,  we  are  happy  that  there  are  men  who  are 
thankful  ;  and  if  not,  we  are  sorry  only  for  them  who  can- 
not be  grateful,  but  our  duties  are  the  same.  Our  obliga- 
tions remain  ;  our  responsibilities  are  not  diminished.  All 
the  thanks  Moses  got  from  this  Hebrew  was,  "  Intendest 
thou  to  kill  me,  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyptian  ?  "  The  Israel- 
ites had  sunk  into  brute  insensibility  under  oppression.  It 
is  a  remarkable  fact,  we  cannot  too  earnestly  reflect  on, 
always  and  everywhere  true,  that  extreme  physical  degra- 
dation dulls  the  intellect,  and  destroys  moral  sensibility. 
Some  persons  complain,  that  the  very  poorest  classes  of  the 
community,  who  live  in  underground  cellars  and  upper  gar- 
rets, are  unthankful.  But  it  is  because  we  are  undutiful. 
Physical  degradation  has  a  most  pernicious  effect  ui)on  the 
moral,  spiritual,  and  intellectual  feelings  of  mankind.  It 
brutalizes  and  barbarizes.  I  believe  that  our  missions,  with 
all  their  value  —  our  city  missionaries  and  our  Scripture 
readers,  doing  a  most  noble  work  —  are  here  vastly  ob- 
structed in  their  work.  I  believe  a  great  physical  and 
social  amelioration  in  poor  men's  homes  must  be  made, 
before  a  substantial  moral  and  spiritual  one  begins  in  their 
hearts.  We  must  raise  the  masses  above  the  level  of  the 
brutes,  before  we  can  raise  them  to  the  level  of  Christians. 
You  must  make  them  men,  before  you  can  make  them,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  Christians.  One  rejoices  that  there  is 
progress  made  in  this.  I  think,  giving  the  people  the  op- 
portunity to  have  more  light,  and  larger  windows,  is  one  of 
the  best  approximations  to  duty  that  any  Chancellor  of  the 


EXODUS    II.  19 

Exchequer  has  yet  given  us ;  and  I  am  perfectly  sure  of 
this,  that  there  would  be  less  indulgence  in  alcoholic  drinks, 
if  the  poor  man  had  only  a  more  comfortable  home  to  go  to. 
The  fact  is,  he  goes  to  his  home,  miserable  in  all  respects, 
unfit,  as  many  of  them  are,  for  a  human  being.  He  then 
goes  across  to  the  public-house,  and  there  he  finds  a  warm 
fire,  a  comfortable  room,  a  sanded  tloor,  and  people  who  will 
converse  with  him,  gas-light,  and  a  newspaper.  He  is  led 
into  the  public-house,  not  because  he  loves  alcoholic  drinks, 
but  because  he  wants  comfort.  Let  him  have  these  at  home. 
The  best  teetotal  society  would  be  the  elevation  and  im- 
provement of  the  homes  of  the  poorer  classes  of  our  coun- 
try ;  for  physical  degradation  powerfully  repels  the  best 
efforts  to  Christianize  and  instruct. 

"  Now,  when  Pharaoh  heard  this  thing,"  we  read,  "  he 
sought  to  slay  Moses.  But  Moses  fled  from  the  face  of 
Pharaoh,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Midian  "  —  a  country  in 
Arabia  Petr^a,  so  called  from  Abraham's  fourth  son,  by 
Keturah  —  "  and  he  sat  down  by  a  well."  It  then  appears 
that  the  daughters  of  "  the  priest,"  or  prince,  "  of  Midian 
came  to  draw  water."  As  you  read  of  Rachel  and  Rebekah, 
this  was  not  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  a  princess. 
"And  the  shepherds,"  or  some  of  the  wild  tribes  of  the 
desert,  "came  and  drove  them  away."  One  cannot  help 
seeing  a  contrast  here  between  the  conduct  of  Moses  and 
Jacob.  You  recollect,  that,  when  the  intended  wife  of  the 
latter  came  to  the  well,  he  offered  all  his  services,  and  made 
himself,  in  every  shape,  agreeable  to  her.  But  when  Moses 
saw  these  come  to  draw  water,  he  did  not  offer  to  help  them. 
Evidently  Jacob  was  a  specimen  of  a  Christian,  refined  and 
cultivated,  and  anxious  to  serve  and  oblige  others,  as  well  as 
to  benefit  himself;  but  Moses  as  evidently  was  a  man  who 
had  simply  a  stern  sense  of  duty,  and  who  felt  that  he  had  a 
mission,  which  he  must  embark  on,  having  no  taste  or  time 


20  SCRIPTUKE    READINGS. 

to  indulge  in  expressions  of  courtesy.  Jacob  was  a  patri- 
archal gentleman ;  Moses,  a  man  whose  heart  and  thoughts 
were  full  of  a  solemn  mission.  He  did  not  help  them  to 
draw  water ;  but  when  strangers  interfered  with  them,  and 
attempted  to  oppose  them,  he  showed,  that,  if  he  had  not  the 
courtesy  of  Jacob,  he  had  that  sense  of  duty  which  would 
not  suffer  another  to  be  injured  unjustly.  This  deep  sense 
of  duty,  this  stern  solemnity  of  thought,  runs  through  the 
life  of  Moses. 

When  they  came  to  the  prince  their  father,  they  told  him 
the  story  of  their  protection.  The  old  man  said,  "  And 
where  is  he  ?  Why  is  it  that  ye  have  left  the  man  ?  Call 
him,  that  he  may  eat  bread,"  and  enjoy  the  rites  of  hospi- 
tality, and  that  I  may  personally  thank  him  for  his  kindness. 
W^ell,  Moses  went  to  his  home,  and  enjoyed  his  hospitality, 
and  was  so  charmed  with  Zipporah,  his  daughter,  that  he 
got  her  in  marriage.  His  courtship,  unlike  Jacob's,  was 
brief  and  business-like. 

We  read  then,  "  It  came  to  pass,  in  process  of  time,  that 
the  king  of  Egypt  died  ; "  but  the  children  of  Israel  found 
no  relief ;  they  still  "  sighed,  by  reason  of  the  bondage.'* 
But  "  their  cry  came  up  "  to  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

'We  thus  see  what  small  beginnings,  if  right  in  their 
nature,  have  great  ends.  That  child,  in  that  ark  of  papyrus, 
was  safer  than  the  bravest  crew  in  the  noblest  battle  ship 
that  ever  sailed  the  ocean.  The  overshadowing  wings  of 
God  were  over  him  ;  angels  ministered  unto  him.  Pharaoh 
miglit  be  swept  from  his  throne,  but  Moses  could  not  perish 
in  that  ark.  The  cause  that  has  God  for  its  author,  and 
everlasting  peace  and  prosperity  for  its  issue,  is  a  cause 
which  God  looks  to,  and  that  he  himself  will  ever  defend. 

There  is  a  special,  overruling  Providence  around  the 
cradles  of  the  babes  of  England,  as  truly  as  around  the  ark 
of  bulrushes  on  the -Nile. 


EXODUS  ir.  21 

The  duty  of  those  that  have  the  means,  is  to  take  the 
children  of  those  that  have  none,  and  nurse  and  educate 
them  for  Christ. 

How  glorious  is  the  victory  of  faith !  He  steps  down, 
without  ostentation  or  parade,  from  the  palace  into  the  brick- 
maker's  field,  for  Christ's  sake.* 

*  See  "Voices  of  the  Dead,"  p.  175. 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE  BURNING  BUSH.  THE  LORD  JESUS  IK  IT.  GOd's  SYMPATHY 
WITH  SUFEERERS.  CHARACTER  OE  PALESTINE.  BORROWING 
JEWELS. 

We  have  now  the  first  and  most  impressive  manifestation 
of  God  to  Moses,  as  a  call,  and  by  way  of  a  preface  to  that 
wonderful  exodus,  on  the  history  of  which  we  are  now 
entering.  There  appears  in  a  bush,  that  burned  and  was 
not  consumed,  a  Being  who  is  here  called  "  the  angel  of  the 
Lord."  I  may  state,  that  some  of  the  most  competent  critics 
and  divines  have  agreed  that  this  ought  to  be  rendered, 
"  the  Angel-Lord."  The  Hebrew  words  are  Melech-  Ye- 
hovah,  which  do  not  mean  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord,"  but 
literally,  "  Jehovah,  the  sent  one."  And  hence  it  has  been 
thought  that  this  was  a  manifestation  of  our  blessed  Lord  in 
one  of  these  forms  in  which  he  sometimes  appeared  before 
his  incarnation,  and  that  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord,"  wherever 
He  appears  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament 
Scripture,  was  none  other  than  God  now  manifest  in  the 
flesh. 

That  the  Being  who  appeared  on  this  occasion  was  God, 
is  obvious ;  because,  whilst  in  the  second  verse  it  is  said, 
"  The  angel  of  tlie  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a  flame  of 
fire  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush  ;"  it  is  declared  in  the  fourth 
verse,  "  And  when  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  saw  that  he  turned 
aside  to  see,  God  called  unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of 
the  bush,  and  said  Moses,  Moses ;  and  he  said,  Here 
am  L     And  He  said,  Draw  not  nigh  hither;  put  off  thy 


EXODUS    III.  23 

slioes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  phice  wlicreon  thou  standest 
is  holy  ground.  Moreover,  lie  said,  I  am  the  God  of  thy 
fatlier,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God 
of  Jacob."  It  is,  therefore,  obvious  that  the  being  who  ap- 
peared here  was  a  Divine  Being,  —  the  Melech-  Tehovah, 
"  the  Angel-Lord  ;  "  and  as  the  father  is  never  spoken  of  as 
sent,  he  is  none  other  than  the  Angel-God,  or  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  our  only  Saviour. 

The  bush  that  appeared  in  flames  is,  literally  translated, 
a  thorn-bush,  a  whin-bush,  or  a  bramble-bush.  It  is  sup- 
2:)0sed  that  this  mountain,  Horeb,  is  the  same  as  Mount 
Sinai.  The  Hebrew  for  a  bramble-bush  is  seneh,  and  hence 
it  is  related  by  some  rabbinical  writers,  that,  after  this  event, 
the  mountain  ceased  to  be  called  "  Horeb,"  and  was  called 
Seneh,  "  the  bramble-bush,"  or  "  Sinai,"  which  is  merely  a. 
modification  of  that  word. 

He  was  ordered  to  take  his  shoes  off  his  feet,  because 
God  was  present.  The  word  translated  "  thy  shoes,"  ought 
to  be  rendered  "thy  sandals"  (sandelok).  Some  words 
seem  to  have  become  incorporated  into  all  languages.  For 
instance,  the  word  "  wine "  is  almost  the  same  in  every 
ancient  and  modern  tongue  ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
word  "  sack  ; "  and  this  word  "  sandal "  seems  to  have  come 
down  from  the  very  earliest  -ages,  for  the  Hebrew  word  here 
translated  "  thy  shoes,"  is  "  sandaloh^^  being  equivalent  to 
our  w^ord  "  sandals." 

The  bush  ever  burning  and  never  being  consumed,  is  the 
recognized  symbol  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  It  has  been 
for  several  hundred  years  the  armorial  bearing  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland. 

To  take  off  the  shoe,  in  the  East,  is  equivalent  to  taking 
off  the  hat  in  the  West,  and  equally  expresses  reverence. 

God  said,  "  I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people." 
How  interesting  is  this  fact,  that  God  takes  cognizance  of 
the  afflictions  of  his  people ;  of  one  as  of  many ;  of  great 


24  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

and  small !  One  sometimes  is  puzzled  to  determine  whether 
God  appears  greatest  when  he  rides  on  the  whirlwind  and 
directs  the  storm,  speaks  in  the  thunder,  and  manifests  his 
glory  in  the  lightning,  or  when  he  descends  to  minister  every 
pulse  to  the  minutest  microscopic  insect,  and  to  notice  the 
pains,  the  sorrows,  and  the  suiFerings  of  the  humblest  and 
the  lowliest  of  the  human  ftimily.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
God's  greatness  is  more  magnificently  revealed  by  the 
microscope,  than  it  is  by  the  telescope ;  in  creation  and  in 
providence  in  little  things,  than  in  great  things ;  and  that  he 
appears  arrayed  in  a  richer  glory  when  his  fatherly  hand 
lays  its  healing  touch  upon  a  broken  heart,  than  when  that 
hand  launches  the  thunderbolt,  or  gives  their  commissions 
to  the  angels  of  the  sky.  God's  people  could  not  suffer  in 
the  brickyards  of  Egypt,  without  drawing  down  the  sym- 
pathies, as  they  shared  in  the  cognizance,  of  the  Lord  God 
of  Abraham.  "I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my 
people." 

"  And  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them."  All  such  lan- 
guage applied  to  God,  I  need  scarcely  explain,  is  borrowed 
from  human  habits  appHed  to  the  Deity.  For  instance, 
when  it  is  said  that  God  repented,  that  does  not  mean  that 
he  changed  his  mind,  but  that  he  changed  his  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding or  dealing  with  mankind.  Again,  when  it  is  here 
said,  "  I  am  come  down,"  that  does  not  mean  tliat  God  was 
in  one  place,  and  change  and  move  from  that  to  another,  but 
that  he  took  notice  of,  interfered  with  or  interposed,  and 
began  a  dispensation  or  a  dealing  peculiar  to  the  emergency. 

Now  God  said  that  he  would  bring  them  out  of  Egypt  — 
that  was  the  first  promise  —  and  that  he  would  bring  them 
"  unto  a  good  land,  and  a  large,  unto  a  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey."  It  has  been  a  favoriteobjection  with  per- 
sons of  a  sceptical  turn  of  mind,  how  Palestine  could  be 
called  so;  but  recent  travels  in  that  land  have  displayed 
enough  of  its  remaining  magnificence  and  wealth,  to  show 


EXODUS    III.  25 

that  the  strongest  expressions  of  its  fertility  in  ancient  times 
are  rather  understated  than  otherwise.  The  Land  is  described 
as  a  knd  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  It  has  been  proved 
to  be  a  country  rich  in  pasturage  and  flowers,  in  flocks  and 
herds,  and  in  large  quantities  of  "wild  honey.  But  if  this 
should  be  thought  too  severe  an  interpretation  of  the  ^vords, 
"  milk  "  may  be  employed,  perhaps,  by  the  sacred  writers 
to  denote  all  kinds  of  necessary  food,  and  "  honey "  may 
include  whatever  is  agreeable  and  delightful  to  the  palate. 
The  same  proverbial  expressions  are  very  common  in  classic 
writers.  Euripides  says,  "  The  field  flows  with  milk,  with 
wine,  and  wdth  the  nectar  of  bees."  We  may,  from  the 
following  passages  from  the  writings  of  eminent  travellers, 
gather  some  idea  of  what  Palestine  was  in  a  state  of  great 
prosperity.  "  We  left  the  road,"  says  one  traveller,  "  to 
avoid  the  Arabs,  whom  it  is  always  disagreeable  to  meet 
with,  and  reached  by  a  side  path  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tain, where  we  found  a  beautiful  plain.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  if  we  could  live  secure  in  this  country,  it  would  be  the 
most  agreeable  residence  in  the  world,  partly  on  account  of 
the  pleasing  diversity  of  mountains  and  valleys,  and  partly 
on  account  of  the  salubrious  air  which  we  breathe  there, 
and  Avhich  is  at  all  times  filled  with  balsamic  odors  from  the 
w^ild  flowers  of  these  valleys  and  from  the  aromatic  herbs  on 
the  hills."  Dr,  E.  D.  Clarke,  speaking  of  the  appearance 
of  the  country  betw^een  Sychem  and  Jerusalem,  says,  "  A 
sight  of  this  territory  alone  can  convey  any  adequate  idea 
of  its  surprising  produce.  It  is  truly  the  Eden  of  the  East, 
rejoicing  in  the  abundance  of  its  w^ealth.  The  effect  of  this 
upon  the  people  was  strikingly  portrayed  in  every  counte- 
nance. Under  a  wise  and  beneficent  government  the  produce 
of  the  Holy  Land  would  exceed  all  calculation.  Its  peren- 
nial harvests,  the  salubrity  of  its  air,  its  limpid  springs,  its 
rivers,  lakes,  and  matchless  plains,  its  hills  and  valleys,  all 
these,  added  to  the  serenity  of  the  climate,  prove  this  land  to 
3 


26  SCRirXUKE    READINGS. 

be  indeed  a  field  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed.  God  hath 
given  it  of  the  dew  of  heaven  and  the  fatness  of  the  earth, 
and  plenty  of  corn  and  wine."  Such  is  its  remaining  char- 
acter. And  I  need  not  tell  you  that  any  land,  were  it  like 
the  garden  of  Eden,  would  soon  become  turned  into  a  desert, 
were  it  treated  as  Palestine  has  been.  The  hoof  of  the 
Moslem,  the  bare  foot  of  the  monk,  the  horse  of  the  Arab 
and  the  Bedouin  of  the  desert,  all  sorts  of  savages  and  bar- 
barians, now  tread  it  underfoot ;  and  the  nations  of  the 
earth  quarrel  on  it,  and  quarrel  about  it,  whose  it  shall  be. 
I  have  often  told  you  what  I  believe  is  its  destiny.  The 
present  occupants  of  Palestine  are  just  like  those  who  are 
put  into  an  empty  house  till  it  shall  be  let  to  the  proper 
tenant.  God  has  placed  them  there  to  keep  it  for  the  pre- 
destined tenants,  the  royal  heritage  of  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  ;  and  soon  we  shall  hear  of  the  march  of  that 
people,  great  in  their  ruins,  discrowned  kings,  a  nation  with- 
out a  home,  proceeding  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  there, 
where  they  once  shouted,  "  Crucify  him  !  Crucify  him  !  " 
not  saying,  but  singing,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David : 
Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

We  read  next  in  this  chapter  that  God  told  Moses  that 
he  would  bring  him  to  Pharaoh,  and  would  require  him  to 
demand  of  Pharaoh  permission  for  the  people  to  go  forth 
from  the  midst  of  Egypt.  Moses  naturally  felt  how  un- 
likely would  be  his  success  on  such  and  so  solemn  an  errand : 
for  you  will  recollect  that  a  new  dynasty  had  now  come  into 
Egypt,  a  dynasty  "  which  knew  not  Joseph,"  that  is,  did  not 
respect  the  people  of  God.  And  Moses  felt  that  nothing 
would  be  more  dilficult  than  to  persuade  an  Egyptian  tyrant 
that  he  ought  to  let  go  profitable  slaves ;  and  he  also  felt  that 
he  was  likely  to  meet  with  but  little  success  even  amid  his 
own  people :  for  he  remembered  that  after  he  had  interposed 
to  rescue  an  Israelite  from  an  Egyptian,  instead  of  receiving 
an  expression  of  courteous  gratitude,  he  was  repelled  and 


EXODUS   III.  27 

driven  away  by  two  of  his  own  countrymen  as  a  mf  ddler 
with  other  people's  matters.  He  therefore  naturally  asked, 
"  Who  am  I  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  that  I 
should  bring  forth  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egy})t?" 
So  Paul  said,  in  the  prospect  of  preaching  the  Gospel, 
"  Who  is  sutRcient  for  these  things?"  A  truly  great  mind 
will  always  feel  most  humbled  by  the  prospect  of  a  solemn, 
an  arduous,  and  an  important  duty. 

God  then  revealed  himself  to  Moses,  and  said  that  the 
Name  he  should  use,  when  asked  who  sent  him,  was,  "  I  am 
that  I  am."  See  what  a  magnificent  portrait  is  here !  This 
is  God's  autograph,  God's  definition  of  himself.  There  is 
no  such  definition  in  the  pages  of  Paganism ;  no  such  idea 
ever  entered  into  the  human  heart.  It  is  the  violation  of  all 
grammar ;  it  is  evidently  language  sinking  and  breaking 
into  pieces  under  the  weight,  pressure,  and  magnificence 
of  a  Divine  and  glorious  thought.  John  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse uses  it,  "  He  that  was,  and  is,  and  shall  be,"  cloth- 
ing these  words  in  language  utterly  ungrammatical,  but 
evidently  designedly  so,  in  order  to  embody,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  Divine  and  infinite  thought.  And  I  know 
not  a  greater  proof  of  the  essential  Deity  of  our  Blessed 
Lord,  than  this.  When  the  Jews  were  about  to  stone 
him,  he  said,  "  Before  Abraham  was,"  not  iyu  r/v,  I  was, 
but  "  eyw  dfit,  I  am,"  that  is,  assuming  to  himself  what 
every  Jew  felt  was  the  intransferable  Name,  Jeho\  ah  — 
"  I  am  hath  sent  me  unto  you."  It  is  not  improbable  that 
Jesus  alluded  to  this  very  definition  of  essential  Deity  in 
this  chapter. 

The  next  passage  I  will  notice  is  the  LStli  verse,  where 
God  tells  Moses  to  say  to  Piiaraoh,  "The  Lord  God  of  the 
Hebrews  hath  met  with  us ;  and  now  let  us  go,  we  beseech 
thee,  three  days' journey  into  the  wilderness,  that  we  may 
sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our  God."  Some  have  said  thai  that 
was  not  stating  the  truth ;  at  least,  the  whole  truth.     It  is 


28  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

quite  true  tliat  God  meant  ultimately  to  emancipate  tliem ; 
but  it  is  no  less  true  that  his  first  step  was  only  to  let  them 
go  so  far  into  the  desert.  The  Israelites  themselves  did  not 
expect  they  would  not  return  to  Egypt.  But  God  told 
Moses  that  the  king  of  Egypt  would  not  let  them  go,  until, 
in  consequence  of  signs  and  wonders,  his  fears  should  pre- 
vail over  his  policy,  and  he  should  be  compelled  to  let  those 
go  whom  he  would  otherwise  retain. 

The  last  verse  has  been  very  much  misconstrued :  "  But 
every  woman  shall  borrow  of  her  neighbor,  and  of  her  that 
sojourneth  in  her  house,  jewels  of  silver  and  jewels  of  gold, 
and  raiment ;  and  ye  shall  put  them  upon  your  sons  and 
upon  your  daughters ;  and  ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians." 
Now,  it  happens  that  the  word  here  translated  "  borrow," 
does  not  mean  strictly  that.  It  is  the  same  word  as  that 
rendered  "ask,"  in  the  second  Psalm:  "Ask  of  me,  and  I 
shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance."  It 
is  the  word  sJiaal,  and  you  will  find  in  the  Lexicon  of 
Gesenius,  who  was  not  over  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the 
Bible,  that  it  means,  "to  ask,  demand,  or  insist  upon." 
It  is  also  stated,  that  God  would  give  them  favor  in  the 
sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  they  should  give  them  what 
they  asked.  But  why  should  they  ask  jewels  and  gold  ?  If 
a  Hindoo  goes  to  his  temple,  or  an  Eastern  to  his  mosque, 
he  always  arrays  himself  in  his  most  splendid  robes,  and 
puts  on  his  best  jewels.  This  being  the  universal  custom  in 
the  East,  when  the  Jews  told  the  Egyptians  that  they  were 
going  to  sacrifice  to  the  great  God,  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  they 
would  feel  that  it  was  their  duty  to  go  with  all  the  signs 
of  dignity  and  rank,  and  therefore  they  gave  tliem  what 
they  asked,  never  expecting  back  again  the  "jewels  of 
silver,  and  jewels  of  gold,  and  raiment."  Or,  the  Israel- 
ites might  not  be  sure  they  were  never  to  return  to 
Egypt,  and  might  ask  Egyptian  jewels,  intending  to  restore 
them. 


EXODUS   III.  29 

The  scene  described  in  this  chapter  is  a  meet  preface  to 
the  events  that  follow.  It  was  the  Divine  consecration  of 
Moses ;  the  solemn  inauguration  of  a  work,  in  comparison 
with  which  the  retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  is  trifling,  and 
the  Crusades  puerile. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  MISSION  OF  MOSES.  HIS  HESITATION.  GOd's  CONDESCEND- 
ING ASSURANCE.  INSTANCES  OF  DIVINE  POWER.  MIRACLES, 
REAL   AND    ROMISH.      PHARAOh'S    HEART. 

"We  must  often  be  struck,  on  reading  the  history  of  God's 
deahngs  with  his  ancient  people,  how  much  obstinacy  in  the 
human  heart  required  to  be  overcome,  and  what  a  fearful 
amount  of  unbelief  needed  to  be  removed,  before  his  most 
gifted  or  favored  servants  could  be  induced  to  undertake  the 
mission  that  was  assigned  them.  Moses  naturally  saw  that 
to  march  the  Hebrew  Helots  from  the  midst  of  Egypt 
across  the  desert  without  any  visible  and  proved  supply  of 
food,  or  caravans,  or  accompaniment  of  any  sort  that  could 
be  a  reasonable  presumption  to  them  that  they  should  not 
perish  from  hunger  by  the  way-side,  would  be  almost  an 
impossibility ;  and  when  God  asked  him  to  undertake  the 
mission,  his  heart  fainted,  and  his  strength  failed,  and  he 
anticipated  the  evil  that  did  more  or  less  actually  occur, 
"They  will  not  believe  me."  How  will  these  degraded 
slaves  believe  in  the  possibility  of  a  heavenly  maintenance? 
How  will  they  listen  to  me,  seeing  the  only  experiment  I 
made  to  do  them  good  was  a  failure  that  gave  no  peace  to 
them,  and  brought  trouble  upon  my  own  head?  They 
will  stoutly  deny  that  which  I  have  witnessed  —  this 
bright  and  glorious  apocalypse  of  thyself  in  the  burning 
busli ;  and  they  will  tell  me,  "  The  Lord  hath  not  appeared 
unto  thee." 


EXODUS    IV.  31 

Now  what  step  did  God  take,  not  to  persuade  tliera,  for 
that  was  to  be  a  subsequent  act,  but  to  persuade  Moses  to 
undertake  what  God  commanded  ?  How  sad  tliat  he  should 
need  any  additional  sign  !  How  sad  that  he,  having  seen 
God,  and  heard  him  speak  from  the  bush,  should  yet  doubt 
that  God  would  give  him  strength  for  his  journey,  and  suc- 
cess in  the  enterprise  that  he  had  assigned  to  him  !  To 
make  sure  that  any  duty  you  engage  in  is  clearly  God's 
will,  and  instantly  to  engage  in  it  in  God's  strength,  is  far 
higher  humility  than  to  hesitate  for  fear  that  you  will  fail  if 
you  undertake  it.  God  then  showed  him  what  he  would  do 
for  Israel,  and  how  much  of  his  almighty  power  he  would 
make  actual  before  them,  in  order  to  persuade  them  that 
Moses  had  a  divine  commission.  He  would  convince  them 
by  these  unequivocal  credentials  —  by  these  acts  full  of 
omnipotence.  He  said  to  Moses,  "  I  will  give  you  an  instal- 
ment and  instance  of  what  you  shall  do.  Cast  your  rod  on 
the  ground."  And  it  became  a  serpent.  "  And  Moses,"  being 
frightened,  "  fled  from  beibre  it."  How  true  a  picture  is  this 
of  human  nature  !  How  like  is  this  to  what  we  should  have 
done  in  the  same  circumstances !  How  much  of  the  angel 
and  the  animal  are  struggling  in  man !  He  who  inspired 
this  book,  and  recorded  this  history,  recorded  fact,  and 
inspired  truth  ;  and  what  is  here  written  is  so  true  to  nature 
that  the  story  proves  its  own  truth,  and  He  only  who  made 
the  human  heart  could  have  so  delineated  its  feelings.  Moses 
then  took  the  serpent  by  the  tail,  and  it  became  again  a  rod. 
This  was  done  to  encourage  him. 

'  Again,  God  bade  him  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom,  and 
when  he  took  it  out,  it  "  was  leprous  as  snow."  That  is 
elliptical  language,  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  it  became 
white  as  snow,  which  was  the  color  of  the  leper.  This  was 
to  persuade  Moses  what  God  would  do  and  could  do  before 
the  Israelites,  in  order  to  persuade  them  that  Moses  was 
sent  from  God,  and  their  instant  exodus  their  duty. 


32  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Now  wliat  is  the  force  of  a  miracle  ?  It  does  not  }3rove  a 
truth  because  it  is  above  nature  ;  for  I  cannot  see  any  reason 
to  doubt  that  Satan  has  done  and  will  do  miracles.  The 
fallen  spirit,  it  is  not  improbable,  who  has  superhuman 
wisdom,  may  have  superhuman  power.  I  do  not  see  why 
he  who  is  able  to  reach  the  human  mind  and  tempt  it  to 
evil,  may  not  be  able  to  do  things  before  the  human  senses 
more  than  physical  human  power  can  accomplish.  But  if 
Satan  were  to  do  some  superhuman  feat,  whilst  it  would  so 
far  be  miraculous  in  that  it  is  above  what  we  ordinarily  see, 
it  would  not  prove  that  Satan  was  God,  or  that  a  lie  is  truth. 
The  miracles  of  the  New  Testament  had  in  them  not  only 
superhuman  power,  but  also  superhuman  bene'volence  and 
love,  and  they  indicated  that  they  were  from  God  mainly 
by  that ;  and,  therefore,  the  miracles  of  the  Bible,  or  of  the 
New  Testament  at  least,  have  internal  evidence  that  they 
are  the  exponents  or  expressions  of  Divine  love  as  well  as 
of  Divine  power,  and  therefore  from  above.  Now  Satan's 
miracles,  if  such  there  be,  or  have  been,  can  have  no  benev- 
olence or  love  in  them.  His  very  nature  is  enmity  to  all 
that  is  good,  holy,  benevolent,  and  true  ;  and  therefore,  his 
aats,  like  his  inspiration,  must  partake  exactly  of  the  same 
character. 

Now  you  are  aware  that  a  great  dispute  has  been  awak- 
ened in  the  present  day,  chiefly  by  Romanists,  about  mira- 
cles. Dr.  Newman  says  that  miraculous  power  is  in  his 
church  ;  that  he  has  seen,  or  can  prove,  miracles  done  there ; 
that  they  are  frequent  as  showers  in  April,  and  that  the 
whole  of  that  church  is  just  one  mighty  sea  of  miracles  upon 
miracles  like  wave  after  wave  appearing  every  day.  True, 
he  quotes  very  grotesque  ones  ;  true,  one  is  sometimes  pro- 
voked to  smile  when  one  reads  the  specimens  that  he  gives ; 
but  a  very  simple  way  of  ending  all  our  scepticism  about 
the  miracles  in  his  church  would  be,  not  to  perform  them  in 
nooks  and  corners,  to  which  that  distinguished  Oratorian 


EXODUS    IV.  33 

may  have  admission,  but  to  perform  tliem  in  Cheapside,  in 
the  Strand,  upon  the  highways,  and  let  heretical  eyes  see 
them  as  well  as  the  orthodox  ;  because,  if  a  miracle  be  an 
appeal  to  the  senses,  and  if  the  heretical  be  not  deprived  of 
the  use  of  their  senses,  they  could  judge  of  the  miracles  as 
well  as  the  orthodox.  Any  one  who  had  eyes  could  see  that 
the  serpent  was  turned  into  the  rod,  and  the  rod  again  into 
the  serpent.  Moses  did  not  doubt  this ;  he  could  not.  There- 
fore, if  there  be  miracles  performed  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
the  way  to  prove  them  is,  not  to  deliver  splendid  lectures  in 
the  Oratory,  showing  they  w^ere  and  are,  but  to  do  them, 
and  then  we  shall  be  able  to  judge  whether  they  be  from 
above,  or  from  beneath,  or  whether  they  be  shams  and 
pretences,  and  the  merest  mimicry  of  miracles,  as  some 
of  them  unquestionably  are.  But  it  is  fair  to  say,  that 
I  do  not  believe  all  the  so-called  miracles  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  have  been  shams  or  deceptions.  I  said  that 
Satan  had  superhuman  power,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  real 
superhuman  deeds  have  not  been  done  by  him  in  the  Church 
of  Rome.  I  think  that  that  church  is  just  the  correlative  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  In  fact,  there  are  but  two  super- 
human elements  or  forces  upon  earth:  these  are,  "The 
mystery  of  iniquity,"  and  "  The  mystery  of  godliness."  The 
great  error  of  Protestants  is,  that  they  think  that  the  Church 
of  Rome  has  very  little  to  say  for  itself.  It  is  the  most 
magnificent  though  most  wicked  conception  that  ever  ap- 
peared on  earth,  except  the  only  divine  one,  and,  except 
that,  the  most  magnificent  idea  that  ever  was  submitted  or 
embodied  on  earth  to  man.  Satan  is  no  blunderer.  It 
combines  the  archangel's  power  with  all  the  fiend's  deprav- 
ity. It  is  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  the  opposite  of  the  mys- 
tery of  godliness. 

And  into  one  or  other  of  tliese  two  great  systems  every 
man  is  going.  Each  is  assuming,  in  this  day,  his  polarity; 
and  that  polarity  will  lead  him  either  to  antichrist  with  them 


34  SCRIPTUKE    KEADINGS. 

that  are  his,  i.  e.  the  apostasy ;  or  to  Christ  with  them  that 
are  his,  i.  e.  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  But  were  the 
distinguished  Oratorian,  to  whom  I  have  alhided  —  dis- 
tinguished for  his  great  genius  and  powerful  intellect  —  and, 
aUis,  for  his  eccentric  course — to  perform  a  miracle  himself, 
that  would  not  convince  me  that  Bonaventure's  Psalter  is 
the  inspiration  of  God,  or  that  the  Virgin  Mary  is  to  be 
worshipped.  No  amount  of  miracles  that  could  be  done 
before  me,  under  heaven,  would  convince  me  that  one  syl- 
lable of  the  Bible  is  false ;  because,  if  Omnipotence  became 
the  pedestal  1800  years  ago,  on  which  the  truths  of  the 
New  Testament  were  set  forth.  Omnipotence  cannot  be  the 
pedestal  in  1853,  on  which  the  lies  of  Satan,  or  the  errors  of 
the  world  are  exhibited.  God  cannot  contradict  himself. 
If,  therefore,  the  most  gifted  emissary  of  the  communion  I 
have  alluded  to  were  to  come,  and  raise  a  dead  man  from 
the  grave,  my  first  remark  would  be  :  "I  admit  the  miracle, 
but  what  do  you  mean  to  prove  by  it  ?  "  Every  miracle  in 
the  New  Testament  was,  not  a  freak  of  power  to  display 
omnipotence,  but  a  pedestal  to  set  forth  a  truth.  He  would 
answer,  that  it  was  to  prove  that  the  mass  is  right ;  that  the 
Virgin  Mary  is  to  be  worshipped ;  and  that  tradition  is  as 
good  as  Scripture.  What  would  be  my  reply,  and  that  of 
every  Protestant  ?  First,  I  would  recollect  that  in  the  last 
days,  it  is  said,  "  there  shall  arise  false  Christs,  and  false 
prophets,  and  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders  ;  insomuch 
that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect."  I 
should  recollect,  again,  that  it  is  said,  "  Satan  himself  is 
transformed  into  an  angel  of  light."  I  should  recollect  also, 
that  it  is  said,  that  his  coming,  who  "  siltetli  in  the  temple  of 
God,  showing  him?elf  as  if  he  were  God,"  is  "  after  the 
working  of  vSatan,  with  all  i:)Ower  and  signs  and  lying  won- 
ders—  TEpam  tfjEvdovg,  that  is,  "  wonders  to  demonstrate  a  lie." 
I  should  recollect,  again,  that  St.  Paul  says,  "  Tiiongh  we  " 
(apostles)  "or   an  angel   from   heaven,  preach   any   other 


EXODUS    IV.  35 

Gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto 
you,  let  him  be  accui-sed."  And  then  I  should  turn  round 
to  the  miracle  woi'ker,  in  this  way,  and  say,  "  Get  thee 
hence,  Satan  ;  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shah  worship  the  Lord 
thy  God,  (and  not  the  Virgin  Mary,)  and  him  only  shalt 
thou  serve."  In  this  chapter,"  we  have  real  and  unequi\ocal 
miracles,  of  which  the  human  senses  were  the  admitted  and 
competent  judges.  A  miracle,  to  be  of  use,  must  not  be  done 
in  a  corner. 

Moses,  we  read,  hesitated  still  to  go,  until  Aaron  was  ap- 
pointed to  go  with  him,  as  having  special  qualifications. 
Moses  reluctantly  consented. 

Afterwards  Moses  said  to  Jethro,  or  Reuel,  with  that 
deference  to  the  old  man's  wishes  which  is  ever  due  to 
age,  "let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,  and  return  unto  my  brethren 
which  are  in  Egypt,  and  see  whether  they  be  yet  alive. 
And  Jethro,"  either  because  he  had  confidence  in  Moses,  or 
under  special  inspiration  so  to  decide,  •'  said  to  Moses,  Go 
in  peace.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  in  Midian,  Go, 
return  into  Egypt :  for  all  the  men  are  dead  which  sought 
thy  life."  Forty  years  had  elapsed  since  he  slew  the 
Egyptian. 

God  gives  Moses  his  message  in  verses  21-23.  "And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  When  thou  goest  to  return  into 
Egypt,  see  that  thou  do  all  those  wonders  before  Pharaoh, 
which  I  have  put  in  thine  hand :  but  I  will  harden  his  heart 
that  he  shall  not  let  the  people  go.  And  thou  shalt  say  unto 
Pharaoh,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Israel  is  my  son,  even  my 
first-born :  and  I  say  unto  thee,  Let  my  son  go,  that  he  may 
serve  me  :  and  if  thou  refuse  to  let  him  go,  behold,  I  will 
slay  thy  son,  even  thy  first-born." 

Then  there  is  a  passage  here  wdiich  we  shall  have  the 
opportunity  of  considering  largely  in  subsequent  chapters  ; 
"  I  will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart,  that  he  shall  not  let  the 
people  go."    The  answer  to  any  objections  to  this  statement, 


36  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

which  I  give  in  the  mean  time,  is,  that  in  subsequent  chap- 
ters, it  is  said  that  Pharaoh  hardened  his  own  heart.  You 
must  not,  therefore,  take  a  profile  view  of  any  one  truth,  and 
look  only  at  the  side  that  suits  you,  but  you  must  look  at 
both  sides.  If  it  is  said  in  one  passage  that  God  hardened 
Pharaoh's  heart,  it  is  said  in  another  passage  tliat  Pharaoh 
hardened  his  own  heart.  There  must,  therefore,  be  some 
intermediate  explanation  that  will  reconcile  both.  That 
explanation  is  plainly  this,  that  some  things  God  does  di- 
rectly, and  is  the  cause  of;  that  other  things  God  does  indi- 
rectly, and  is  the  occasion  of.  For  instance,  Jesus  came  to 
preach  peace ;  and  yet  he  himself  says,  "I  came  not  to  send 
peace,  but  a  sword."  Now,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
direct  object  of  the  mission  of  Christ  was  not  to  create  war, 
but  peace.  What  he  meant,  therefore,  was,  that  his  mission 
to  create  peace  would  be  the  occasion  of  war.  Again,  salva- 
tion is  said  by  the  apostle  to  be  to  one  "  the  savor  of 
death,"  and  to  another  "  the  savor  of  life  ; "  that  is,  the 
savor  of  death  incidentally,  —  the  savor  of  life  directly. 
So,  God  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart  by  submitting  to  him 
those  truths,  arguments,  and  evidences,  which  he  ought 
to  have  accepted,  but  the  rejection  of  wdiich  recoiled 
upon  himself,  and  hardened  the  heart  they  did  not  con- 
vince. Everybody  knows,  in  the  present  day,  that  if 
you  listen,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  to  great  truths,  and,  Sun- 
day after  Sunday,  reject  them,  you  grow  in  your  capacity  of 
repulsion  and  ability  to  reject  them,  and  the  more  hardened 
you  become  ;  and  thus,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  that 
Avas  meant  to  melt,  Avill  be  the  occasion  of  hardening  your 
heart  —  not  because  God  hates  you,  but  because  you  reject 
the  Gospel.  The  sun  itself  melts  some  substances,  whilst, 
from  the  nature  of  the  substances,  it  hardens  others.  You 
must  not  think  that  God  stands  in  the  way  of  your  salva- 
tion. There  is  nothing  between  the  greatest  sinner  and 
instant  salvation,  but  his  own  unwillingness  to  lean  on  the 


EXODUS    IV.  37 

Saviour,  and  be  saved.     Moses  evidently  had  the  workin"- 
hand,  and  Aaron  the  eloquent  tongue. 

Verse  24.  Moses  had  incurred  the  anger  of  God  by- 
delaying  to  undergo  the  initiatory  rite  of  circumcision. 
Though  it  seems  contrary  to  our  feelings,  the  mother,  under 
a  special  inspiration,  performed  hurriedly  the  rite  or  sacra- 
ment. A  mother  of  old  called  a  son  being  circumcised,  a 
spouse  or  husband. 


CHAPTER    V. 

SECURITT  or  niARAOH.  IKTERVIEAV  OF  MOSES  AND  AARON  WITH 
PHARAOH.  ROYAL  DISCOURTESY.  MILDNESS  OF  MOSES  AND 
AARON,  ROYAL  TYRANNY.  SEVERITY  OF  LABOR.  DISAP- 
POINTMENT   OF   MOSES. 

We  learn  from  the  'chapter  we  have  read,  that  Pharaoh, 
the  Egyptian  king,  sat  upon  his  throne  in  possession  of  all 
the  pomp  and  magnificence  of  an  eastern  despot,  fear- 
ing no  rival,  and  expecting  no  reversal.  He  had  not  the 
remotest  idea  of  that  great  transaction  that  was  taking 
place,  invisible  to  hira,  between  Moses,  Aaron,  and  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  the  issue  of  which  would  be  his  own  dethrone- 
ment, the  destruction  of  his  nation,  and  the  deliverance  of 
those  very  slaves  whom  he  was  grinding  to  the  earth  by 
.ojipressive  tyranny  and  avaricious  despotism.  He  recol- 
lected Moses,  no  doubt,  and  the  very  wonderful  story  of  his 
early  life.  He  had  heard  that  he  was  picked  up  as  a  found- 
ling ;  that  he  was  taken  home  by  a  royal  daughter  of  an 
illustrious  predecessor  of  his  own  ;  tliat  he  was  brought  up 
in  the  palace,  and  learned  there  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyp- 
tians ;  but  that  he  was  so  foolish  and  headstrong  a  fanatic, 
that  he  had  left  the  advantages  that  he  had,  and  the  splen- 
did preferment  that  he  enjoyed,  for  what  Pharaoh  thought 
a  mere  delusion,  an  idea,  or  sentiment,  —  of  no  weight  or 
worth  when  wciglied  against  tlie  actual  advantages  of  a 
great  kingdom,  a  splendid  palace,  and  the  power  that  he 
might  wield  as  the  chief  servant  of  Pharaoh.  He  thought 
that  this  fanatic,  though  not  dead,  was  too  feeble  and  worth- 


EXODUS    V.  39 

less  a  personage,  and  too  much  carried  away  by  his  own 
romantic  notions  of  religion,  to  at  all  weaken  his  sway  over 
the  Egyptian  people. 

It  appears,  however,  that  while  these  thoughts  may  have 
been  passing  through  his  mind,  Moses  and  Aaron  went  into 
the  palace,  and  si)ake  to  Pharaoh,  and  said,  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  hold 
a  feast  unto  me  in  the  wilderness."  What  a  majestic 
preface  to  this  humble,  reasonable,  and  fair  petition  !  "  The 
God  of  Israel  is  our  authority;  we  are  simply  his  am- 
bassadors, and  we  ask  for  him,  and  in  his  name,  a  boon  that 
will  not  materially  inconvenience  you,  and  that  will  very 
materially  bless  our  countrymen,  and  oblige  us,  —  that  thou 
wouldst  let  the  people  of  Israel  go.  We  do  not  ask  their 
exodus,  we  simply  beg  a  respite.  We  do  not  demand  their 
eventual  escape,  we  simply  ask  that  they  may  have  a  holi- 
day, in  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  go  into  the  desert  so 
far  as  to  sacrifice  unto  the  God  of  Israeli"  It  may  be  said, 
that  Moses  ultimately  contemplated  more.  So  he  did.  But 
if  Pharaoh  refused  the  little  that  he  asked,  he  would  have 
refused  more  violently  all,  if  he  had  ventured  to  ask  all. 
Moses  asked  in  righteous  principle,  and  yet  with  wise  policy. 
He  asked  an  instalment  of  the  whole ;  and,  if  he  could  not 
obtain  that  instalment,  he  knew  that  he  was  far  less  likely 
to  get  the  whole.  Tlierefbre,  he  was  satisfied  to  ask  a  por- 
tion, and  see  what  the  result  would  be. 

Now,  Pharaoh's  reply  was  neither  dignified,  nor  cour- 
teous :  "  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  his  voice,  to 
let  Israel  go?  I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let 
Israel  go."  He  might  have,  in  words  at  least,  respected  the 
religion  of  the  people,  even  if  he  did  not  believe  it.  We 
ought  to  respect  every  man's  faith,  whatever  it  be  ;  for  it  is 
his  all.  We  will  try  to  undeceive  him,  if  he  be  wrong ;  but 
the  way  to  do  so  is  not  to  pour  contumely  upon  him, 
or  insult  upon  the  religion  that  he  holds;   but  by  show- 


40  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

ing  him,  in  contrast  with  it,  the  truth  in  love,  and  so 
persuade  him  to  renounce  his  errors,  and  embrace  what 
he  was  ignorant  of,  the  more  excellent  way.  But  Pharaoh, 
with  all  the  despotism  of  an  eastern  prince,  exclaimed,  "  I 
know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let  Israel  go."  Pie  gave 
an  absolute  refusal,  without  the  courtesy,  or  even  the  dignity 
which  became  so  great  a  monarch,  to  those  who  approached 
him  in  the  language  of  suppliance,  and  asked  what  was 
neither  unreasonable  nor  unfair.  In  all  probability  Pha- 
raoh judged  of  the  God  of  the  Israelites  by  the  Israelites 
themselves,  as  some  do  of  the  poor  man's  Lord  by  the  poor 
man's  state.  They  were  degraded  slaves,  and  must,  there- 
fore, have  a  feeble  God.  He  thought  there  could  be  no 
moral  grandeur,  unless  there  were  material  circumstance. 
He  fancied  that  such  degraded  Helots  could  not  have  a  God 
of  great  power,  or  at  least,  worthy  of  his  confidence,  or  his 
respect.  Now,  how  did  Moses  and  Aaron  reply  ?  Just 
mark  the  contrast  between  the  Egyptian  king,  and  the  He- 
brew or  Christian  messengers.  Being  threatened,  they 
threatened  not ;  reviled,  they  reviled  not  again.  They  took 
meekly  his  remarks ;  they  entreated,  but  threatened  not ; 
for  they  said  immediately,  "  The  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath 
met  with  us ; "  speaking  calmly,  as  if  not  one  insulting  ex- 
pression had  been  used :  "  let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,  three 
days'  journey  into  the  desert,  and  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord 
our  God,  lest  he  fall  upon  us  with  pestilence,  or  with  the 
feword."  Let  us  do  the  duty  that  he  enjoins,  lest  we  suffer 
the  consequences  of  neglecting  that  duty.  Now,  here  is  a 
precedent  for  us.  If  Pharaoh  forgot  his  place,  Moses  and 
Aaron  were  not  to  forget  theirs.  If  he  laid  aside  the  dig- 
nity of  a  king  when  he  addressed  them,  evidently  in  loss  of 
temper,  as  well  as  in  irreligious  language,  they  did  not  lay 
aside  the  deference  that  subjects  owed,  or  the  meekness 
that  Christians  felt.  They  spoke  as  if  he  excusably  mistook 
their  object,   or  was  ignorant  of  their  meaning,  owing  to 


EXODUS    V.  41 

their  imperfect  expression  of  it.  Tliey  explained,  that  they 
only  wanted  to  go,  that  they  might  escape  the  righteous 
judgment  which  disobedience  would  incur.  And  they 
might  have  said,  "  If  judgment  begin  at  the  house  of  God, 
what  shall  be  the  end  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  ?  " 
It  ought  to  have  suggested  to  Pharaoh,  If  God's  own  people 
suffer  for  disobedience  to  his  laws,  what  will  be  the  treat- 
ment to  be  expected  by  those  who  insult  him  to  his 
face,  and  blaspheme  the  holy  Name  by  which  they  are 
called  ? 

The  king  of  Egypt  was  not  moved,  but  said,  "  Wherefore 
do  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron,  let  the  people  from  their  works  ?  " 
The  word  "  let "  is  used  in  the  old  Saxon  sense  or  meaning 
of  the  expression,  and  is  equivalent  to  "  prevent ;  "  "  Where- 
fore do  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron,  prevent  the  people  from  doing 
their  works  ?  Get  you  unto  your  burdens.  And  Pharaoh 
said.  Behold,  the  people  of  the  land  now  are  many,  and  ye 
make  them  rest  from  their  burdens."  He  turned  aside  with 
perfect  contempt  from  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  spake  to  the 
officers  and  exactors,  and  told  them  to  see  that  the  people 
instantly  attended  to  their  work.  Tlie  expression,  "  the 
people  of  the  hind  now  are  many,"  evidently  denotes  that 
the  produce  of  so  many  laborers'  work  was  a  very  great 
accession  to  the  royal  treasury ;  and  that  if  he  were  to 
allow  them  to  suspend  their  work  for  a  very  few  days,  it 
would  be  the  loss  to  him  of  a  very  great  sum.  He  thought 
only  of  two  things  —  filling  the  coffers  of  the  state  by 
grinding  down  the  lives  of  his  slaves ;  and  of  degrading  a 
people,  who  he  dreamed,  in  his  folly,  if  they  had  strength 
and  opportunity,  would  rise  up,  resist  his  government,  and 
upset  his  throne.  He  therefore  said,  "They  are  many," 
and  insisted  upon  their  going  back  to  their  burdens  ;  and, 
very  much  like  the  eastern  princes  still,  instead  of  being 
softened  by  this  appeal  to  his  royal  clemency,  he  seems  to 
have  been  more  exasperated  against  them ;  for  he  now  re- 
4* 


42  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

fused  them  straw,  and  yet  insisted  upon  their  producing  in 
the  same  time  the  ordinary  number,  or  "  tale  "  of  bricks. 

In  the  pyramid  of  Fayoum  there  are  found  bricks  which 
have  been  hardened  in  the  sun  containing  short  particles  of 
chopped  straw  mixed  with  the  clay,  their  just  idea  being 
that  straw  would  give  cohesion  to  the  mass,  the  brick  not 
being  submitted  to  the  action  of  fire,  but  only  to  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  Whilst  these  bricks  would  not  be  suitable  for  our 
buildings,  you  can  see  their  appropriateness  in  Egypt,  where 
there  is  no  rain.  In  a  dry  and  sunny  clime  the  bricks 
would  last  for  thousands  of  years,  whereas  in  our  climate 
they  would  be  of  no  use.  In  others  of  the  pyramids  bricks 
are  found  which  have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  fire  ; 
and  this  has  led  some  to  think  that  the  straw  was  used  in 
the  furnaces. 

Dr.  Shaw,  speaking  of  the  bricks  found  in  one  of  the 
Egyptian  pyramids,  remarks,  "  The  composition  is  only  a 
mixture  of  clay,  mud,  and  straw,  slightly  blended  and 
kneaded  together."  In  Cairo  in  Egypt  a  traveller  remarks, 
"  The  houses  for  the  most  part  are  of  brick  mixed  with 
straw  to  keep  them  firm." 

There  is  at  the  same  time  abundant  evidence,  that  bricks 
were  also  hardened  or  burned  in  the  fire.  But  whichever  it 
was,  you  can  see  the  hardship  suffered  by  the  Israelites  on 
this  occasion;  because  they  were  required  to  produce  the 
same  amount  of  bricks  in  the  same  time,  and  yet  they  had 
to  go  and  collect  the  straw  or  the  stubble  for  these  bricks, 
in  order  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  monarch.  It  was 
therefore  additional  labor  in  the  same  time,  without  the  op- 
portunity and  means  of  accomplishing  it. 

But  the  officers,  when  they  saw  it,  came  and  complained. 
Some  think  that  while  the  taskmasters  were  Egyptians,  the 
subordinate  officers  were  Hebrews.  These  last  came  and 
complained,  "  Wherefore  dealest  thou  thus  with  thy  ser- 
vants ?      There  is  no  straw  given  unto  thy  servants,  and 


EXODUS    V.  43 

they  say  to  ns,  Make  brick :  and,  behold,  thy  servants  are 
beaten,  but  the  fault  is  in  thine  own  people."  In  the  East 
it  is  still  quite  common  to  beat  officers  of  some  rank  for 
their  misdemeanors,  and  it  is  not  regarded  as  in  any  degree 
sinful. 

As  they  came  forth  from  Pharaoh,  they  met  Moses  and 
Aaron,  and  said  to  them,  "  The  Lord  look  upon  you,  and 
judge  ;  because  ye  have  made  our  savour  to  be  abhorred  in 
the  eyes  of  Pharaoh."  You  came  professedly  to  do  us  good ; 
you  have  done  us  harm.  You  have  not  helped  one  jot  our 
deliverance,  but  you  have  added  immensely  to  the  weight 
and  pressure  of  our  burdens.  The  Lord  therefore  forgive 
you.  We  deeply  lament  it ;  but  so  it  is.  Often  oppression 
becomes  heaviest  as  deliverance  draws  near. 

"  And  Moses,"  grieved  and  pained,  "  returned  unto  the 
Lord,  and  said.  Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  so  evil  entreated 
this  people  ?  "  He  thought  God  had  resolved  to  disappoint 
him,  since  their  burdens,  instead  of  being  mitigated  by  his 
interposition,  had  been  all  the  opposite  way.  Moses  saw 
but  the  preface,  and  rashly  judged  of  the  work.  He  saw 
the  beginning,  and  knew  not  the  end :  what  God  did  he 
knew  not  then,  but  he  lived  to  know  thereafter. 

The  language  in  this  twenty-second  verse  is  very  remark- 
able, and  explains  other  passages  of  Scripture.  Moses  said, 
"  Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  evil  entreated  this  people  ? " 
But  it  was  the  taskmasters  wdio  evil  entreated  them,  not 
God.  And  this  explains  that  passage  to  which  I  referred 
last  Lord's  day  morning  about  God  hardening  Pharaoh's 
heart.  In  the  Hebrew  idiom,  God  is  often  said  to  do  a 
thing  which  he  is  only  the  occasion  of  being  done.  It  is 
said,  for  instance,  that  the  Lord  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart ; 
that  is,  he  applied  those  means  that  if  not  successful  in  sub- 
duing that  heart,  would  necessarily  by  their  reaction  even- 
tuate in  the  hardening  of  that  heart.  So  here,  God  did  not 
evil  entreat  the  people  ;  but  he  used  those  means  to  effee- 


44  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tuate  their  exodus,  whicli  at  first  added  to  the  ^veight  antf 
pressure  of  their  burdens.  Thus,  God  is  said  to  do  a  thing, 
which  he  was  only  the  occasion  for  a  moment  of  being  done. 
Again,  one  of  the  petitions  in  the  Lord's  Prayer  is,  "  Lead 
us  not  into  temptation."  This  does  not  mean  that  God  ever 
leads  his  people  into  circumstances  of  sinful  temptation  ;  the 
meaning  clearly  is,  "  Suffer  us  not  to  be  led  into  temptation.'* 
So  here  the  idea  is,  "  Wherefore  hast  thou  suffered  us  to  be 
evil  entreated  ?  "  And  again,  "  The  Lord  suffered  Pharaoh's 
heart  to  be  hardened ; "  the  Hebrew  idiom  often  ascribing 
to  God  the  doing  of  a  thing,  of  which  he  is  only  the  occasion, 
by  the  instrumentality  he  employs  for  effectuating  great  and 
permanent  good. 

God  may  be  working  gloriously  for  our  land,  when  all 
seems  to  be  against  it.  Let  us  not  judge  by  feeble  sense. 
Let  us  trust. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

THE  DIVISION  OF  THE  BIBLE  INTO  CHAPTERS.  THE  DOUBTS  AND 
TEARS  OF  MOSES.  GOd's  CONDESCENDING  LOVE.  JEHOVAH. 
god's    covenant.      MOSES    STILL   DOUBTS. 

The  first  verse  of  the  chapter  I  have  read  is  plainly  a 
reply  to  the  last  verse  of  the  previous  one.  This  leads  me 
to  repeat  what  I  have  mentioned  before  in  the  course  of  my 
expositions  of  the  chapters,  that  our  division  of  the  Bible 
into  chapters  was  done  by  a  very  awkward  printer,  when  the 
earliest  printed  impressions  of  the  Bible  were  produced,  and 
therefore  that  some  of  the  divisions,  as  might  be  expected, 
are  extremely  unhappy  and  undesirable.  It  is  plain  that  a 
great  portion  of  this  sixth  chapter  ought  to  be  attached  to 
the  fifth. 

Moses  had  made  the  objection  at  the  close  of  the  previous 
chapter,  "  Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  so  evil  entreated  this 
people  ?  Why  is  it  that  thou  hast  sent  me  ?  For  since  I 
came  to  Pharaoh  to  speak  in  thy  name,  he  hath  done  evil  to 
this  people  ;  neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people  at  all ;  " 
that  is,  "  I  totally  despair  of  the  fulfilment  of  thy  promise, 
or  of  the  success  of  thy  power  ;  for  the  experiment  I  have 
made  has  been  so  signal  a  failure,  that  I  cannot  be  induced 
to  make  a  second."  Well,  God's  reply,  indicating  forbearing 
and  bearing  with  a  servant  doubting  where  he  ought  to  have 
had  perfect  confidence,  was  this,  "You  are  mistaken,  Moses. 
The  failure  of  a  first  experiment  —  if  failure  you  choose  to 
call  it  —  is  no  proof  that  a  second  experiment  will  not  suc- 
ceed.    At  all  events,  it  is  your  duty  to  follow  out  what  your 


46  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

God  Scays :  it  is  my  glory  to  see  tliat  what  I  have  promised 
and  predicted  will  come  to  pass."  We  are  all  apt  in  all 
things  to  intrude  on  God's  province,  thus  losing  force,  instead 
of  concentrating  all  our  disposable  energy  within  the  prov- 
ince tliat  God  has  assigned  us.  It  is  not  ours  to  question  for 
a  moment  that  God  will  fulfil  his  promises  ;  it  is  ours  always 
and  everywhere  to  fulfil  the  obligations  that  he  has  laid  upon 
us.  God  says,  that,  so  far  from  Pliaraoh  succeeding,  he  will 
be  glad  to  let  these  poor  brickmakers  and  slaves  go  forth 
from  his  land.  There  is  something  very  encouraging  in  this  ; 
that  God,  instead  of  rebuking  strongly  the  unbelief  of  his 
servants,  gives  another  manifestation  of  his  greatness  to  their 
senses,  in  order  to  overcome  by  love,  instead  of  repressing 
by  rebuke,  their  unbelief  and  suspicions.  Therefore,  God 
here  says  to  Moses,  "  I  will  turn  over  another  leaf  in  my 
character;  I  will  unveil  another  ray  of  my  glory.  You 
have  known  me,  Moses,  as  the  El  Shaddai,''  that  is  God 
Almighty,  "  but  I  wish  you  now  to  know  me  in  a  higher 
relationship,  and  by  a  name  expressive  of  a  yet  greater 
character  and  glory ;  that  is,  the  name  Jehovah." 

El  Shaddai  means  God  Almighty  ;  but  Jehovah  means 
He  that  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  be.  You  will  find  that  the 
name  El  Shaddai,  God  Almighty,  is  generally  used  when 
God  speaks  of  what  he  can  do  ;  and  that  Jehovah  is  used 
always  with  reference  to  the  accomplishment  of  what  God 
had  promised,  and  predicted  that  he  would  do.  The  name 
Jehovah  is  applied  to  our  blessed  Redeemer  in  the  Book  of 
Revelation  :  '•  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last." 
These  words  are  a  paraphrase  upon  the  name  Jehovah.  And 
this  name  Jehovah,  I  may  mention,  is  still  held  to  be  so 
sacred  by  a  Jew,  that  he  never  mentions  it.  Wherever  the 
word  Jehovah  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament,  he  substitutes  • 
El  Shaddai,  Eloliim,  or  Adonai,  that  is,  "  the  Lord,"  instead 
of  it.  And  if  he  should  find  a  fragment  of  paper  with  the 
name  "  Jehovah  "  upon  it,  he  would  lay  it  aside,  as  too  sacred 


EXODUS   VI.  47 

to  be  jirofaned,  containing  as  it  does  the  incommunicable 
name  of  God. 

Here  the  question  occurs,  "Was  not  this  name  known  to 
Moses  ?  There  are  two  classes  of  commentators  on  this 
very  text.  Some  say  that  the  name  Jehovah  was  not  known 
prior  to  the  appearance  of  God  in  the  burning  bush.  You 
answer  that  statement  by  referring  to  the  vision  that  Abra- 
ham saw  —  the  ram  caught  in  the  thicket,  when  he  called 
the  place  Jehovah-jireh,  "The  Lord  will  provide,"  or,  "In 
the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen."  Well,  then,  if 
Abraham  used  the  very  name  Jehovah,  and  if  the  word 
Jehovah  occurs  several  times  besides  in  the  course  of  the 
previous  chapters,  how  can  it  be  said  that  this  name  was 
not  known  to  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ?  Those  who 
hold  the  opinion  that  it  was  not  literally  known  to  them,  say 
that,  as  Moses  did  not  write  Genesis  till  some  two  thousand 
years  after  some  of  the  facts  recorded  in  it,  he  used  the 
name  Jehovah  because  it  was  known  to  the  Jews  at  the 
time  he  wrote,  though  it  was  not  known  to  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  in  the  years  in  Avhich  they  lived.  But  this  would 
seem  to  be  irreconcilable  with  some  passages  where  the 
name  Jehovah  must  have  been  used,  because  it  was  given 
with  reference  to  special  circumstances,  to  which  the  other 
names  of  God  would  not  seem  to  be  applicable.  And  be- 
sides, it  would  seem  on  this  supposition,  that  Moses  did  not 
write  strictly  and  literally  what  was  true,  but  wrote  the 
past  with  a  borrowed  light  from  the  present,  which  would 
not  be  the  duty  of  a  faithful  historian.  The  other  opinion  — 
and  I  think  it  is  the  just  and  the  only  interpretation  —  is, 
that  the  name  Jehovah  was  known  to  Abraham  ;  but  that 
its  pregnant  meaning,  preciousness  in  its  application,  and 
comfort,  was  so  little  known,  that,  in  comparison,  it  was  not 
known  at  all ;  that  is,  God  had  not  manifested  all  his  glory 
as  Jehovah  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  as  he  would  do 
to  Moses  and  to  the  children  of  Israel  in  after  generations. 


48  SCKirTURE    READINGS. 

This  seems  to  be  the  natural  and  fiiir  interpretation  of  the 
passage,  "  By  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them;" 
that  is,  in  all  its  fulness,  emphasis,  and  precious  signifi- 
cance. But  now  it  will  be  known  to  you  by  being  more 
fully  and  gloriously  revealed  and  realized. 

Then  God  repeats  to  Moses  his  promise,  "  I  have  also 
established  my  covenant  with  them,  to  give  them  the  land 
of  Canaan."  "  Why  should  you  doubt,  Moses  ?  This  is  an 
absolute  fixture;  it  must  be.  Go,  therefore,  and  in  the 
confidence  that  that  will  be,  take  the  place,  and  discharge 
the  duties  that  I  have  assigned  unto  thee.  Say  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  I  am  Jehovah.  That  is  the  name  that  I 
shall  be  known  by.  He  who  can  make  something  out  of 
nothing;  He  who  not  only  has  all  power,  but  creative 
power.  And  I  will  bring  you  out  from  under  the  burdens 
of  the  Egyptians.  And  tell  them  that  I  will  bring  them 
into  the  land  which  I  promised  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob ;  and  I  will  give  it  you  for  an  heritage ;  for  the 
reason  of  it  is,  not  your  merit,  nor  their  excellence,  but 
my  own  sovereignty.  I  am  Jehovah,  and  that  is  the  only 
reason  of  it." 

"  Moses  spake  so  unto  the  children  of  Israel ; "  —  he  took 
heart  to  engage  in  his  mission  again :  "  but  they  hearkened 
not  unto  Moses  for  anguish  of  spirit,  and  for  cruel  bondage." 
They  had  become  degraded,  depressed,  debased  ;  and  we 
know  that  deep  physical  degradatign  makes  men  insensible 
to  moral  opinions. 

Moses  then  "  spake  before  the  Lord,  saying,  Behold,  the 
children  of  Israel  hearkened  not  unto  me ;  how,  then,  shall 
Pharaoh  hear  me  ?  "  "  If  they  who  have  the  deepest  inter- 
est in  the  message  have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  it,  how  can  I 
expect  that  Pharaoh,  who  has  no  interest  in  it,  but  the 
very  reverse,  will  listen  to  it  ?  "  —  the  unbelief  of  Moses 
breaking  out  in  almost  every  expression  that  he  uttered. 

But  "  the  Lord  spake   unto    Moses   and   unto  Aaron," 


EXODUS    VI.  49 

taking  no  notice  of  their  objection,  "  and  gave"  them  a  charge 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  unto  Pharaoh,  king  of 
Egypt,  to  bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of 

Egyi.t." 

In  conclusion  there  is  given  an  account  of  the  ftxmilies  of 
the  tribes  of  Joseph  and  of  Jacob ;  and,  singular  enough, 
Moses  takes  scarcely  any  notice  of  his  own  family  connec- 
tions, but  refers  especially  to  Aaron,  indicating  that  forbear- 
ance, and  that  "  in  honor  preferring  one  another,"  which  are 
so  characteristic  of  the  penmen  of  Sacred  AVrit.  We  have 
in  the  list  of  the  progenitors  of  these  men,  persons  of  ques- 
tionable character  and  conduct,  which  is  evidence  that 
Moses  and  Aaron  based  their  opinions,  not  upon  their 
descent,  but  upon  the  commission  of  Jehovah,  who  sent 
them. 

The  expression,  "  father's  sister,"  used  in  one  verse,  does 
not  always  denote  a  sister  in  the  literal  sense  of  blood  rela- 
tionship ;  it  is  often  used  to  denote  a  distant  relationship,  a 
kinswoman ;  and  it  may  be  thus  used  here. 

In  the  closing  verse  we  find  that  Moses'  unbelief  was  not 
overcome ;  for  he  said,  "  Behold,  I  am  of  uncircumcised 
lips ; "  evidently  giving  up  all  in  despair.  "  I  will  go  be- 
cause thou  commandest ;  but  I  go  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  a 
reluctant  step."  So  difficult  is  it  to  overcome  that  evil  heart 
of  unbelief,  that  leads  us  to  depart  from  the  living  God.  So 
natural  is  it  to  suspect  where  we  ought  to  confide ;  to  despair 
wliere  we  ought  to  hope ;  and  even  when  God  calls,  to  pre- 
fer our  own  prejudices  and  prepossessions  to  his  blessed 
Word. 


THE  KING  THAT  KNEW  NOT  JOSEPH 


OR,  THE    CHRISTIAN    IN   THE   WORLD. 


"  Now  there  arose  up  a  new  king  over  Egypt,  which  knew  not  Joseph."  — 
Exodus  i.  8. 


I  HAVE  explained  the  first  six  chapters  in  the  course  of 
our  Sunday  morning  Expositions,  or  rather  given  such  an 
outline  of  them  as  could  be  submitted  in  the  little  space  of 
time  assigned  for  that  purpose ;  but  the  verse  I  have  read 
seems  to  suggest  a  thought  not  unworthy  of  special  analysis. 
It  explains  the  severity  of  Israel's  sufferings  in  Egypt.  It 
sums  up  the  reasons  of  the  unprecedented  persecution 
endured  from  a  dynasty,  or  a  king,  "  which  knew  not 
Joseph."  It  reveals  the  reasons  why  one  so  distinguished 
for  his  piety,  his  sagacity,  political  prudence,  and  moral 
worth,  together  with  his  people,  should  have  been  so  depre- 
ciated, despised,  and  evil  entreated  by  any  king  of  Egypt 
acquainted  with  the  years,  and  the  peculiarities  of  the 
years,  that  were  coeval  with  Joseph.  No  doubt  there  was  a 
reason,  and  this  would  seem  to  be,  that  the  kings  of  Egypt 
had  degenerated  in  their  moral  character,  and  thereibre 
they  elevated  to  position,  place,  and  power,  men  far  different 
in  tone  and  temper  of  mind  and  heart  from  the  good  and 
great  patriarch  Joseph.  It  is  said,  the  first  dynasty  recog- 
nized in  Joseph  a  distinguished  patriot,  an  accomplished 
statesman ;  tiie  second  dynasty  swept  away  Josepli  and  his 
cabinet  together,  and  elected  for  u  corrupted  court  a  more 


THE    KING   THAT    KNEW    NOT   JOSEPH.  51 

corrupt  and  immoral  ministry.  The  consequence  was,  that 
Josepli,  whose  deeds  in  the  past  were  so  loudly  and  so  em- 
phatically appreciated,  was  laid  aside,  despised,  forgotten  — 
his  advice  unsought,  and  his  contributions  to  the  well-being 
of  his  country  at  a  former  day  despised  or  at  least  passed 
by.  But  the  Christian  patriarch  was,  no  doubt,  preserved 
in  the  obscurity  of  private  life  with  as  equable  and  magnani- 
mous a  mind  as  that  with  which  he  was  gifted  when  he  trod 
the  high  and  perilous  places  of  the  land.  He  had  that  heart 
which  beat  true  to  God  in  the  palace  of  Pharaoh,  and  would 
not  cease  to  beat  equally  true  when  the  new  king  came 
"  which  knew  not  Joseph."  Did  the  benefactors  of  the  world 
confer  benefits  for  the  sake  of  being  thanked  for  them,  they 
would  cease  in  numerous  instances  to  be  beneflictors  at  all. 
We  must  confer  good  upon  those  who  need  it,  and  do  ser- 
vice to  those  whom  that  service  will  benefit,  not  in  expecta- 
tion of  reward  on  earth,  but  because  duty  prompts  us  upon 
the  one  hand,  and  religion  consecrates  that  sense  of  duty, 
making  it  felt  more  obligatory  upon  that  account,  on  the 
other. 

It  is  said,  Joseph  was  not  "known"  by  this  dynasty. 
This  is  a  strong  expression,  used  to  denote  the  perfect  ob- 
scurity into  which  this  good  and  great  man  had  fallen ;  or 
rather,  the  contempt  in  which  this  benefactor  and  true 
patriot  was  held  by  those  who  were  unable  to  appreciate 
him.  It  was  not  that  Joseph's  character  had  waned  in 
beauty ;  it  was  not  that  his  intellect  had  lost  its  sagacity  ;  it 
was  not  that  he  was  less  capable  of  holding  the  helm  of  the 
State,  and  doing  the  duties  of  a  statesman,  under  the  new 
dynasty,  than  he  was  under  the  old ;  but  the  new  dynasty 
wished  to  pursue  a  course  of  action  and  conduct  inconsistent 
with  that  purity,  integrity,  and  candor,  which  Joseph  had 
counselled,  and  which  by  reason  of  his  previous  recommen- 
dation was  exhibited  by  a  former  dynasty ;  and  therefore  he 
was  cast  off.     Less  worthy  men  were  taken  in  his  place. 


52  THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT    JOSEPH. 

But,  what  occurred  to  Joseph  is  just  Avhat  befalls  Christians 
still,  in  proportion  as  their  Christianity  ceases  to  be  latent. 
AYe  are  told  by  an  apostle,  that  the  world  knoweth  us  not, 
because  it  knew  Christ  not.  If  this  be  a  universal  law, 
Joseph  must  have  come  under  it  in  the  patriarchal  days 
just  as  much  as  the  apostles  came  under  it  in  the  early 
dawn  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  If  it  be  a  fact  univer- 
sally true  in  this  dispensation,  we  must  expect,  in  proportion 
as  we  exhibit  ourselves  as  Christians,  to  come  under  its 
action  also.  In  what  respect,  then,  can  it  be  said  that  they 
did  not  know  Joseph  in  the  days  of  that  new  Egyptian 
dynasty,  or  that  the  world,  of  which  that  dynasty  was  the 
type,  does  not  know  Christians  still  ?  "  The  world  knoweth 
us  not  because  it  knew  Him  not."  The  reason  is  just  this. 
The  world  has  an  eye  that  can  appreciate  and  take  in  out- 
ward and  worldly  greatness,  beauty,  rank,  pomp,  splendor, 
but  it  wants  the  inner  eye  to  appreciate  that  which  will  out- 
last it  all,  —  inward,  moral  and  spiritual  character.  The 
world,  like  the  dynasty  of  Egypt,  can  understand  perfectly 
well  external  rank,  and  visible  dignity ;  but  it  cannot  appre- 
ciate that  rank  that  relates  to  God,  and  that  dignity  with 
Avhich  they  are  invested  who  are  by  adoption  made  the  sons 
of  God.  The  world  can  understand  the  wise  after  the 
flesh,  but  not  the  truly  wise.  It  can  understand  the  rich 
after  the  manner  and  standard  of  this  world,  but  not  the 
rich  in  faith,  heirs  of  the  kingdom.  It  can  see  that  common 
beauty  which  the  vulgar  eye  can  admire ;  but  it  cannot  ap- 
preciate, because  it  cannot  see,  that  inner,  s[)iritual  beauty, 
which  is  the  clothing  of  the  King's  daughter,  and  which  is 
visible  only  to  that  new  sense  which  the  Holy  Spirit  im- 
plants in  them  who  are  born  again,  who  alone  are  able  to 
distinguish  between  the  inner,  moral  grandeui'  which  has  no 
decay,  and  the  outer,  material  pomp  and  splendor  which, 
like  a  vision,  will  vanish,  and  scarcely  leave  a  wreck 
behind. 


THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT    JOSEPH.  53 

The  reason  wliy  the  world  does  not  appreciate  the 
Cliristian  character  is,  that  the  Christian  leads  a  higher  life. 
He  walks,  if  we  may  so  speak,  on  a  loftier  level.  He  is,  in 
proportion  as  he  is  a  Christian,  influenced  by  motives  and 
hopes,  and  guided  by  laws,  and  a  sense  of  a  presence,  which 
an  unconverted,  worldly  man,  such  as  was  the  new  king  of 
Egypt  who  knew  not  Joseph,  cannot  at  all  understand,  A 
thorough  worldly  man  would  be  amazed  at  hearing  that  a 
person  had  made  great  sacrifices  of  certain  profit  to  that 
airy  and  transcendental  thing,  as  he  would  call  it.  Christian 
principle  ;  and  he  would  wonder  how  any  man  could  be  so 
destitute  of  common  sense,  as  to  give  up  £500  a  year  in 
deference  to  that  thing  called  "  conscience,"  or  to  that  book 
called  "  the  Bible  ;"  or  in  deference  to  the  antiquated  notion 
somehow  got  into  his  head,  "Thou,  God,  seest  me."  A  man 
who  is  thoroughly  of  the  world,  thoroughly  in  it,  with  no 
appreciation  of  what  constitutes  true  beauty,  and  true  excel- 
lence, and  is  in  fact  the  Christian  character,  will  wonder  and 
marvel  how  any  man  will  give  up  a  certain  positive  good 
that  can  be  held  by  the  hand,  in  deference  to  any  airy  prin- 
ciple, to  conscience,  or  to  religion,  that  cannot  be  weighed 
in  scales,  nor  meted  by  a  yard  measure,  nor  touched  and 
handled.  Therefore,  he  thinks,  there  ought  to  give  way  — 
principle  to  profit,  —  never,  never  profit  to  principle.  Jo- 
seph probably  was  called  by  this  dynasty,  and  asked,  "  Shall 
the  king  go  to  war  with  this  nation  ? "  Joseph  would  natu- 
rally answer,  "  What  has  the  nation  done  ?  "  The  answer 
probably  would  be,  "•'  Nothing."  "  Then  why  go  to  war  ?  " 
"In  order  to  add  to  Egypt  another  province."  Joseph 
would  then  say,  "  That  is  aggressive  warfare,  and  there- 
fore wrong-doing."  "  But  why,"  they  would  say,  "  do  you 
call  it  so  ?  "  "  Because,"  would  be  his  answer,  "  God  has 
taught  me  so  ;  because  I  know  from  a  higher  teaching,  what 
you  must  feel  in  your  consciences,  if  you  have  any  of  the 
remains  of  its  original  light,  that  aggressive  war  for  the 
5* 


54  THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT    JOSEPH. 

aggrandizement  of  a  nation,  disguise  it  as  you  like,  belongs 
to  the  same  category  as  the  midnight  burglar,  or  as  the  per- 
son who  breaks  into  a  house,  in  order  to  add  to  his  own 
pomp  and  equipage."  The  king  would  then  answer,  "  You 
are  not  the  pliable  minister  who  is  w^anted  in  these  days  of 
Egypt.  You  must  retire,  and  a  more  manageable  character 
must  take  your  place : "  and  therefore  the  king  "  knew  not 
Joseph." 

Another  reason  why  the  world  does  not  appreciate  the 
Christian  noAv  is,  that  it  judges  a  Christian  by  itself,  and 
thinks  that  he  must  be  at  heart,  notwithstanding  all  his  pre- 
tences, w'hat  it  is.  The  world  loves  sin,  delights  in  it. 
Covetousness,  malice,  hatred,  ambition,  thirst  for  power,  are 
all  passions  that  are  not  only  cherished  but  nourished  in  the 
Avorldly  man's  heart.  AVe  do  not  say  all  these  passions  are 
in  one  heart,  but  one  or  other  of  them  is  in  every  worldly 
man's  heart.  And  when  the  world  meets  with  a  man  who 
professes  to  have  laid  his  ambition  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
and  %vhose  thirst  for  power  is  the  noble  thirst  of  doing  good, 
it  will  say,  "  This  sounds  very  fine,  but  we  do  not  believe  it. 
The  only  difference  between  you  and  us  is,  that  we  do  not 
.pretend  to  these  things,  and  that  you  do ;  for  behind  the 
curtain  you  practice  what  we  practice,  and  are  exactly  what 
we  are."  Therefore,  the  world  hates  the  Christian,  not 
simply  for  his  Christianity,  but  because  it  cannot  conceive 
such  a  man  to  be  any  other  than  a  thorough  hypocrite. 
Hence  the  world  does  not  know,  does  not  like,  does  not  ap- 
prove, in  fact,  condemns  the  Christian,  and  believes  that  he 
accommodates  himself  simply  to  the  outward  eye,  but  that 
at  heart  and  in  reality  he  is  just  as  other  men  are.  Now 
this  is  not  the  fact.  If  a  man  be  a  Christian,  he  has  got  a 
new  taste,  new  sympathies  and  hopes ;  he  has  got  a  new 
standard  of  action,  a  new  object  dangling  before  him  in  the 
distance,  towards  which  he  runs,  and  after  which  he  aspires; 
he  lives  a  higlier  life,  breatlies  a  purer  air,  and  is  altogether 


THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT   JOSEPH.  55 

what  the  apostle  calls  "  a  new  man."  Therefore,  the  world, 
judging  that  he  is  what  it  is,  only  with  the  added  sin  of 
hvpocrisj,  does  not  know  that  if  he  be  a  Christian  at  all,  it 
is  as  natural  to  him  to  love  the  right,  as  it  is  natural  to  the 
world  to  prefer  the  wrong  ;  and  that  his  change  of  character 
generates  a  change  of  taste,  which  makes  him  hate  what 
once  he  loved,  and  love  what  once  he  hated. 

The  world,  or  the  unregenerated  man,  for  that  is  the  defi- 
nition of  it,  cannot  understand  either  the  sorrows  or  the  joya 
of  a  Christian.  It  can  understand  sorrow  at  being  balked 
of  a  great  prize,  or  under  bitter  disappointment  at  not  at- 
taining an  expected  fortune ;  the  world  can  thoroughly 
understand  tlie  pain  of  being  outshone  by  a  rival,  or  eclipsed 
by  another  candidate  for  greatness ;  but  it  cannot  under- 
stand sorrow  at  having  done  wrong,  or  grief  that  the  world  is 
as  it  is,  or  pain  that  men  should  not  be  what  the  Gospel  pre- 
scribes they  ought  to  be.  The  world  cannot  understand  that ; 
it  cannot  take  such  elements  into  its  calculation  at  all.  There- 
fore such  a  sorrow  is  hidden  from  the  world,  and  as  truly 
inappreciable  by  it,  as  if  it  were  non-existent  altogether. 

A  Christian's  joys  the  world  cannot  understand.  A 
Christian's  joy  is  derived  from  hearing  that  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness  makes  way,  that  the  cause  and  king- 
dom of  Satan  are  depressed,  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
are  more  and  more  becoming  the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and 
of  his  Christ,  that  the  Bible  is  more  read,  and  circulated 
more  extensively,  that  error  is  being  rooted  out,  that  truth 
is  prevailing  over  the  earth.  These  are  elements  in  a 
Christian's  joy.  But  the  world  cannot  understand  it.  It 
cannot  see  the  least  use  in  spreading  Bibles,  except  more 
employment  for  the  paper  manufacturer  and  the  bookbinder. 
It  cannot  understand  the  good  of  Christianity,  except  that  it 
takes  civilization  in  its  train.  And  therefore,  a  Christian's 
joys  are  such  as  a  mere  worldly  man  cannot  sympathize 
with ;  they  are  as  much  unknown  to  him,  as  if  they  did  not 
exist,  or  were  not  felt  at  alL 


66  THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT   JOSEPH. 

But  this  expression,  "knew  not,"  means  more  than,  not 
appreciate ;  it  means  also,  not  approve,  or,  disapprove. 
AVhen  it  says,  therefore,  that  "  there  arose  up  a  new  king 
over  Egypt,  which  knew  not  Joseph,"  it  implies  that  this 
king  positively  disapproved  of  Joseph,  as  well  as  disliked, 
slighted,  or  left  him  out.  It  is  still  the  character  of  the 
world,  that  it  disapproves  of  Christians.  It  disapproves  of 
their  separating  from  what  it  upholds  ;  it  disapproves  of 
their  protesting  against  what  it  applauds ;  it  disapproves  of 
them,  because  they  run  not  to  the  same  excess  of  riot,  and 
because  they  at  times  feel  it  their  duty  to  express  their  dis- 
approbation of  that  of  which  the  world  is  most  enthusiasti- 
cally enamored.  Thus,  the  world  disapproves  of  Christians. 
Only  let  us  take  care  that  its  disapproval  be  of  our  Christian 
character,  and  not  of  our  frail  prejudices  that  accompany  it, 
or  of  infirmities  that  are  scarcely  separable  from  it,  or  of 
our  imprudent  or  injudicious  conduct.  Christians  are  apt 
to  confound  the  world's  disapproval  of  their  injudiciousness 
with  its  not  knowing  the  Christian  character.  There  are 
many  infirm  Christians,  and  many  Christians  very  little  ad- 
vanced in  the  way  of  godliness ;  and  you  must  not  suppose 
that  the  world  is  disapproving  of  the  Christian  character 
every  time  it  pronounces  a  verdict  unfavorable  to  what  you 
have  done,  or  to  some  feature  that  you  have  developed.  It 
may  be  a  disapproval  of  }'ou,  not  of  Christ  in  you.  But 
still,  the  character  of  the  world  is,  that  it  disapproves  of  the 
whole  motives,  character,  separation,  protest,  principles, 
career,  and  hopes,  of  a  Christian.  It  first  does  not  under- 
stand them  and  cannot  appreciate  them,  and  next,  as  far  as 
it  knows  tliem,  it  positively  disapproves  of  them.  It  says, 
the  world  is  not  workable  upon  these  principles.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  this  dynasty  told  Joseph  that  his  principles  were 
all  very  well  for  a  Millennium,  but  they  were  not  good  for 
Egypt ;  that  he  would  be  a  vcjiy  good  prime  minister  for 
Millennial  days,  but  that  he  was  not  a  practical  prime  miu- 


THE    KING    THAT    KXEW   NOT   JOSEPH.  57 

ister  for  the  dynasty  of  Pharaoh.  And  therefore,  this  kinf>' 
not  only  did  not  appreciate  the  pure  patriotism  and  lofty 
morality  of  Joseph,  but  he  positively  disapproved  of  a  Chris- 
tian altogether  as  either  a  candidate  for,  or  an  occupant  of 
the  office  of  prime-minister  of  Egypt. 

But  this  expression  "knew  not"  implies  also  hate,  as  well 
as  disapproval.  "  If  the  world  hate  you,"  says  our  Lord, 
"  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  before  it  hated  you.  If  ye  were 
of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  his  own :  but  because  ye 
are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world, 
therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  Now  it  seems  strange  that 
the  world  should  hate  the  Christian  ;  and  yet  it  is  explained 
in  that  Book  which  explains  all  the  perplexities  and  incon- 
gruities of  human  nature.  It  tells  us  distinctly  that  the 
carnal  heart,  that  is,  the  natural  heart,  that  with  which  we 
are  born,  is  enmity  against  God.  Therefore,  if  the  world 
be  now  what  it  was,  though  very  much,  I  admit,  improved 
in  its  general  tone  ;  and  if  the  Christian  be  Avhat  he  once 
was,  then  the  same  antipathy  must  exist  still.  It  may  be 
differently  developed,  but  it  must  still  exist.  The  world  is 
not  radically  changed;  it  is  improved  —  there  is  no  doubt  of 
that,  but  still  it  is  the  world  ;  and  the  Christian  is  not  radi- 
cally different  from  what  he  was  in  St.  John's  days.  If  he 
be  what  he  was,  he  is  a  man  born  again,  the  Christian  whom 
the  world  knoweth  not.  If  this  be  the  case,  these  two  are 
opposites  —  light  and  darkness,  truth  and  error,  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan  —  and  therefore,  a 
world  that  not  only  cannot  appreciate  the  traits  of  your  char- 
acter, but  that  also  disapproves  of  them,  as  far  as  it  knows 
them,  will  proceed  a  step  further,  and  hate  you,  and  a  step 
further,  and  show  that  liatrcd  by  trying  to  exterminate  and 
extinguish  you  ;  but  as  it  cannot  kill  in  the  present  day,  at 
least,  in  this  country,  it  will  misrepresent  you.  Are  you 
earnest  ?  It  will  say,  you  have  a  heated  imagination.  Are 
you  strict  and  consistent  ?     It  will  say,  you  are  a  hypocrite. 


58  THE    KING    THAT    KNEW   NOT    JOSEPH. 

Are  you  a  professor  of  a  purer  and  a  nobler  ereed  ?  It  will 
be  said,  it  is  because  you  seek  applause,  or  reward  of  men. 
Every  thing  you  do  will  be  misconstrued  ;  every  thing  that 
you  are  will  be  misrepresented.  But  when  the  world  has 
the  power,  as  it  has  in  Tuscany,  then  it  assu*mes  another 
and  a  sterner  feature,  —  it  puts  you  in  prison,  and  would, 
if  it  could,  renew  the  massacres  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and 
reproduce  the  scenes  of  an  age  that  some  thought  had 
passed  away,  but  that  seems  in  some  parts  of  Europe  to 
be  coming  on  again.  Thus,  the  world  cannot  appreciate 
our  principles  ;  it  disapproves  of  them ;  it  hates  those  who 
are  the  exponents  of  them. 

Well,  what  are  we  to  infer  from  all  this  ?  First,  be  com- 
forted, it  has  been  so  from  the  beginning ;  and  therefore, 
the  world  was  and  is  the  world  still ;  and  the  Christian, 
whether  in  Joseph's  days,  or  our  own,  was  and  is  the  Chris- 
tian still.  And  let  us  recollect  this,  that  if  the  world  thus 
treats  the  Christian,  it  so  treated  Christ.  If  they  have  done 
so  to  the  Master,  we  may  expect  they  \vill  do  so  to  the  ser- 
vant. And  if  we  are  not  so  treated,  we  should  examine 
ourselves  to  see  what  is  th-e  reason.  Has  the  world  about 
us  become  Christian?  or  are  we  become  worldly?  Why 
has  the  contrast  failed  ?  why  has  the  antagonism  ceased  ? 
Are  we  faithful,  true,  stcadfost,  firm  exponents  of  Chris- 
tianity, living  epistles,  the  lights  of  the  world,  the  salt  of 
the  earth?  I  speak  as  unto  reasonable  men:  judge  ye. 
But  let  us  recollect  also  for  our  comfort  that,  if  we  are  thus 
treated,  the  world  passeth  away  ;  it  does  not  last  for  ever. 
And  let  us  recollect  that  one  day  we  shall  be  manifest,  for 
the  sons  of  God  shall  be  made  manifest.  The  Avorld  will 
then  have  passed  away,  and  we  alone  shall  inherit  the  king- 
dom. Above  all  rejoice  in  tliis,  that  whoever  hates  us,  God 
does  not.  Whoever  condemns,  God  acquits.  "  Behold 
what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  on  us,  that 
we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God ! " 


THE    KING    THAT    KNEW    NOT   JOSEm.  59 

The  world  will  be  this  year  what  it  has  been  last ;  let  us 
not  fear  it,  or  be  alarmed  on  account  of  what  man  feels,  but 
see  that  in  the  world  we  are  not  of  it,  but  superior  to  it  in 
life,  in  aim,  in  character,  in  hope.  And  let  us  go  forth  into 
the  years  which  are  before  us,  just  as  Joseph  left  the  palace 
of  Pharaoh,  and  went  into  obscurity,  —  his  heart  remaining 
the  same,  his  love  to  God  and  his  allegiance  to  his  law  re- 
maining unchanged.  Let  the  world  change,  let  us  abide. 
Let  it  alter  its  treatment  of  us,  if  it  so  be ;  but  let  our  posi- 
tion in  reference  to  it  be  held  fast,  the  position  of  protest 
against  its  evil,  and  of  usefulness  in  efforts  to  do  it  good,  and 
awaken  it  to  a  sense  of  the  need,  the  value,  and  preciousness 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  And  in  going  into  the  world, 
whether  into  its  ups  or  its  downs,  its  shadow  or  its  sunshine, 
let  us  seek  to  have  more  and  more  manifested  in  ourselves 
the  character  of  Plim  who  is  our  Great  Example,  and  run 
the  race  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and 
the  finisher  of  our  faith.  When  he  was  reviled,  he  reviled 
not  again.  "  He  was  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter, 
as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not 
his  mouth."  "  Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  "  If  you  be  reproached  for  the 
Name  of  Christ,  happy  are  you ;  for  the  Spirit  of  glory 
and  of  God  resteth  upon  you."  Let  us  never  forget  that 
there  is  a  distinction,  not  mechanical,  nor  visible,  but  real, 
spiritual,  and  inner,  between  the  Church  and  the  world, 
between  one  who  is  born  again  and  one  who  is  not.  It  is 
very  important  that  that  difference,  that  mighty  chasm, 
should  not  be  in  imagination  filled  up,  in  fact  it  never  can 
be.  Either  we  must  go  over  to  the  world  and  be  of  it,  or 
the  world  must  come  over  to  us  and  be  one  of  us ;  but  as 
long  as  the  world  and  the  Church  exist,  so  long  it  is  light 
and  darkness,  truth  and  error,  and  there  will  be  opposition, 
there  must  not  be  compromise.  Let  us  be  thankful  when 
that  opposition  is  mild,  let  us  be  patient,  when  it  becomes 


GO  THE    KING    THAT    KNEW    NOT   JOSEPH. 

severe ;  and  let  us  in  the  world  remember  that  the  world 
passeth  away,  but  that  they  who  fear  God  shall  endure  for 
ever,  and  they  that  by  death  or  life  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness shall  shine  as  the  stars  and  the  brightness  of  the  sun 
for  evermore.  Weep  as  though  ye  wept  not,  rejoice  as 
though  ye  rejoiced  not.  Use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it,  for 
the  fashion  of  it  passeth  away. 

We  must  never  take  office  anywhere,  or  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, at  the  exjDcnse  of  concealing  our  distinctive 
principles,  or  compromising  the  higher  service  of  our  Mas- 
ter in  heaven.  Allegiance  to  Him  is  first  and  last.  Duty 
to  Him  is  the  supreme  and  governing  consideration.  All 
must  give  way  to  this,  and  this  must  give  way  to  nothing. 
Our  light  must  shine  in  the  world  as  in  the  sanctuary.  Our 
character  must  be  distinct  and  definite  in  the  outward  as  in 
the  inward  circle.  The  world  must  come  to  us,  we  cannot 
go  to  the  world.  We  need  not  be  sour,  exclusive,  bigoted ; 
but  we  must  be  firm,  steadfast,  immovable.  Great  decision 
may  be  combined  with  great  gentleness.  The  firmness  of 
the  rock  and  the  flexibility  of  the  w^ave  are  not  contradic- 
tions. For  this  purpose  let  us  study  the  Great  Example, 
imbibe  His  spirit,  and  draw  inspiration  from  that  ever 
accessible  but  never  exhaustible  fountain.  We  are  in  an 
alien  country  —  our  quietest  retreats  are  bivouacs,  not 
homes.  Let  us  walk  as  pilgrims  and  strangers,  looking  for 
a  city  and  a  better  country.  So  patriarchs  sojourned  —  so 
martyrs  lived  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy.  In  due 
time  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not^ 


CHAPTER    VII. 

gifts.    the    mission   of  moses   and  aaron.    hardening    op 
Pharaoh's  heart,     miracles  and  marvels,    rod  turned 

INTO  A  serpent.   WATER  INTO  BLOOD. 

You  remember  that,  at  the  close  of  the  previous  chapter, 
Moses  had  again  expressed  his  doubts  of  success,  by  alleging 
his  conscious  deficiency  of  eloquence  or  the  power  of  utter- 
ance ;  and  therefore  that  he  was  not  fit  to  go  in  to  Pharaoh, 
and  try  to  persuade  him  to  let  the  people  go.  God  ref)lies 
to  that  objection  in  his  own  majestic  and  impressive  terms, 
which  we  may  thus  paraphrase :  "  The  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  this  is  the  answer  to  all  your  difficulties ;  this  is  to 
be  your  encouragement ;  I  have  made  thee  to  be  a  god  to 
Pharaoh  ;  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  be  thy  prophet."  In 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  magistrates,  as  representing  a  por- 
tion of  the  jurisdiction  of  God,  are  called  gods.  The  ex- 
pression was  very  commonly  applied  to  those  who  were 
possessed  of  dignity  or  official  power,  "  ye  are  gods ; "  and 
in  this  sense  Moses  is  said  to  have  been  made  a  god  unto 
Pharaoh ;  and  Aaron  his  brother  was  to  be  his  prophet. 
You  are  already  aware  of  the  reason  of  this  distinction 
between  the  two  brethren.  Moses  complained  that  he  had 
no  power  of  eloquence,  or  was  uncircumcised  of  lip ;  and 
God's  reply  to  that  was,  "  You,  Moses,  shall  be  the  oracle 
or  depository  of  truth ;  and  Aaron,  who  has  the  gift  of  elo- 
quence, shall  unfold  and  express  it."  God  did  not  alter 
their  constitutional  characteristics ;  but  he  made  use  of  their 
existing  constitutional  peculiarities  to  do  his  great  work. 
6 


62  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

So  still,  when  God  employs  men  to  execute  his  purposes,  he 
does  not  recreate  them,  but  he  sanctifies  them,  he  uses 
them  as  they  are.  Anybody  reading  the  New  Testament, 
will  see  that  each  writer  has  a  style  of  his  own ;  so  much 
so,  that  if  you  were  to  read  a  few  verses  from  one  or  the 
other  of  the  writers,  I  should  be  able  to  say  whether  they 
were  written  by  Matthew,  or  Mark,  or  Paul,  or  Peter. 
God  did  not  destroy  the  idiosyncracies  of  the  sacred  pen- 
men, but  he  retained  their  variety  of  style,  and  consecrated 
that  variety  to  be  the  more  eloquent  vehicle  of  important 
and  precious  truth.  So,  when  God  sent  Moses  and  Aaron 
to  do  his  work  in  Egypt,^e  did  not  make  Moses  eloquent, 
which  he  was  not,  nor  did  he  make  Aaron  learned,  which 
he  was  not ;  but  he  made  Aaron,  the  eloquent  man,  draw 
upon  the  stores  of  Moses,  the  learned  man,  and  thus  each 
did  efficiently  and  naturally  the  work  that  God  had  assigned 
them.  So,  at  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  Luther's  eloquence 
and  energy  would  have  been  extremely  defective,  if  he 
could  not  have  fallen  back  upon  the  rich  stores  of  Melanch- 
thon's  learning.  So  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  energy 
and  boldness  of  Peter  were  shown  in  his  speaking ;  and  the 
love,  patience,  perseverance,  and  piety  of  John,  were  shown 
in  his  keeping  silence.  God  thus  takes  different  men  of 
different  constitutional  peculiarities  for  different  purposes. 

"  Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit. 
.  .  .  For  to  one  is  given  by  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom ; 
to  another  the  word  of  knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to 
another  faith  by  the  same  Spirit;  to  another  the  gifts  of 
healing  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another  the  working  of  mira- 
cles ;  to  another  prophecy;  to  another  discerning  of  spirits; 
to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues ;  to  another  the  interpre- 
tation of  tongues ;  but  all  these  worketh  that  one  and  the 
selfsame  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he  will." 

God  instructs  Moses  and  Aaron  as  to  what  they  should 
do ;  but  he  adds,  "  I  will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart."     I  ex- 


EXODUS   VII.  63 

plained  to  yon,  on  a  former  occasion,  that  God  is  often  said 
in  Scripture  to  do  things  directly,  when  the  context  shows 
that  he  did  them  indirectly.  To  be  the  occasion  of  a  thing, 
is  totally  distinct  from  being  the  cause  of  a  thing.  I  build 
an  hospital  for  the  cure  of  the  sick ;  but  in  the  course  of  its 
erection,  a  scaffolding  gives  way,  and  a  workman  is  killed. 
The  hospital  was  not  the  cause,  but  the  occasion  of  that 
death.  Jesus  came  into  the  world,  not  to  send  peace,  but  a 
sword.  He  came  directly  to  send  peace ;  but  he  came  indi- 
rectly and  incidentally  to  send  war.  The  Gospel  is  not  the 
cause  of  war,  but  the  occasion  of  it.  And  so,  when  God 
said,  "  I  will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart,"  it  implied,  "  I  will 
show^  such  signs,  and  bring  to  his  conscience  such  motives, 
that  if  he  is  not  moved,  melted,  and  subdued,  the  reaction 
of  that  influence  will  end  in  his  being  hardened  more  and 
more."  Another  evidence  of  this  would  be  the  fact,  that,  in 
some  passages  it  is  said  that  Pharaoh  hardened  his  own 
heart ;  and  in  the  14th  verse  of  this  chapter,  where  our 
translation  unfortunately  is  wrong,  we  are  told  that  "  the 
Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Pharaoh's  heart  is  hardened;"  it 
should  be  translated,  "is  heavy;"  and  in  the  22d  verse 
again  it  is  said,  "  Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened,  neither  did 
he  hearken  unto  them."  The  13th  verse  should  be  ren- 
dered the  same  as  this.  You  see  a  great  variety  of  phrases 
employed,  but  all  imply  that  the  influences  that  were  em- 
ployed by  God  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  not  that  God 
did  it  directly.  Nothing  can  be  so  absurd  as  to  say  that 
God  showed  to  Pharaoh  reasons  of  repentance,  which  he 
prevented  him  by  physical  power  from  accepting.  That  is 
not,  and  cannot  be  the  meaning.  It  means  simply  that  God 
was  the  incidental  occasion  of  hardening  a  heart  which 
would  not  yield  to  forces,  motives,  and  reasons,  adequate  in 
themselves  to  melt  and  subdue  it. 

But  God  says,  "  While  you  shall  not  succeed  in  touching 
Pharaoh's  heart,  my  word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void ; 


64  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

for  the  Egyptians  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  The 
message  was  sent  to  the  monarch ;  it  failed  in  producing  its 
legitimate  influence  upon  him ;  but  the  residue  of  that  influ- 
ence reached  the  people,  and  many  of  the  Egyptians  knew 
and  learned  for  the  first  time  that  God  was  Jehovah. 

At  this  time,  we  are  told,  Moses  was  eighty  years  of  age, 
and  Aaron  eighty-three.  This  was  not  old  age.  Moses 
lived,  as  I  have  said  before,  to  be  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
He  was,  therefore,  now  just  at  the  close  of  the  meridian  of 
life.  I  mentioned  also  before,  that  there  is  no  evidence  in 
the  Bible  that  man's  life  has  been  shortened  since  Moses' 
death ;  and  that,  as  far  as  we  can  gather  from  Divine  inter- 
position, one  hundred  and  twenty  is  the  proper  age  of  man. 
The  90th  Psalm  describes  an  abnormal  state  of  life  in 
the  wilderness.  There  Moses  himself  complains  that  their 
life  was  shortened  to  threescore  and  ten,  by  the  existing 
severity  and  pressure  of  their  circumstances,  not  by  the 
ordinance  of  God.  And  it  remains  a  problem,  Avhether,  if 
men  were  not  less  oppressed  by  anxious  cares  and  thoughts, 
ambition,  vainglory,  and  pride,  and  wrath,  and  malice,  they 
would  not  live  to  a  much  greater  age  ;  and  whether  it  be 
not  true,  that,  in  proportion  as  Christianity  gains  in  its  sanc- 
tifying influence  on  the  soul,  the  whole  social  and  physical 
system  will  not  be  correspondingly  elevated  and  ameliorated 
also. 

Pharaoh  said,  "  Show  a  miracle  for  you."  Now  that  was 
not  at  all  an  unreasonable  request.  When  a  new  revelation 
is  made,  you  require,  not  simply  that  it  shall  be  suitable  and 
agreeable  to  your  judgment,  but  that  it  shall  be  accompanied 
with  such  credentials  as  prove  it  to  have  come  directly  from 
God.  A  miracle  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  evidence 
of  a  revelation  from  on  high.  It  Is  not  itself  the  revelation, 
but  the  evidence  of  it.  The  wax  upon  the  deed,  and  the 
seal  of  one  of  the  parties,  is  not  the  deed  ;  but  it  is  the  evi- 
dence that  that  deed  is  accepted  and  identifled  by  the  party 


EXODUS   VII.  65 

whose  seal  is  attached  to  it.  The  miracles  in  the  Ne\7 
Testament  were,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  pedestals  of  great 
truths.  The  miracles  which  our  Lord  wrought  were  not 
mere  freaks  of  omnipotence,  but  exhibitions  of  power  and 
benevolence,  made  to  attest  that  a  certain  doctrine  or  a  cer- 
tain message  was  from  God.  In  the  case  of  Moses  and 
Aaron,  every  miracle  that  they  wrought  was,  first,  to  prove 
to  Pharaoh  that  they  had  a  Divine  commission  to  call  Israel 
out  of  Egypt ;  and  next,  if  they  had  not  beneficence  in 
them,  they  were  all  fitted  to  humble  Egypt,  by  awakening 
them  to  a  sense  of  the  idolatry  in  which  it  indulged,  and  to 
prove  to  that  nation,  by  overthrowing  the  ground  and  foun- 
dation of  their  hope^,  that  they  were  worshipping  only  lying 
vanities.  For  instance,  the  second  miracle  recorded  in  this 
chapter  —  that  of  turning  the  river  into  blood  —  was  not 
simply  an  exhibition  of  God's  power  to  be  a  credential  to 
Moses  and  Aaron,  but  it  was  also  a  punishment  inflicted 
upon  the  national  deity  of  the  Egyptians  themselves.  The 
Nile  was  their  god.  Its  water  is  recorded  to  have  been  the 
sweetest  that  ever  was  tasted ;  and  it  is  said  that,  in  these 
modern  times,  the  Turks  are  so  fond  of  it,  that  they  are 
known  to  eat  salt  beforehand,  in  order  that  they  may  enjoy 
this  delicious  water  more.  It  was,  no  doubt,  in  the  days  of 
Pharaoh  equally  delicious ;  and  it  is  this  fact  that  gives 
such  emphasis  to  this  expression,  "The  Egyptians  shall 
loathe  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river." 

But  the  first  miracle  recorded  here  is  that  of  turning  the 
rod  into  a  serpent,  or  rather  a  crocodile  —  it  is  not  nahash, 
but  tannin,  —  and  the  Egyptian  magicians  doing  so  likewise. 
The  question  which  will  occur  in  the  course  of  our  subse- 
quent reading  of  Moses'  doings  in  Egypt,  is.  Did  the  magi- 
cians really  do  supernatural  things  ?  This  has  been  a  great 
controversy  in  every  age.  Some  passages  seem  to  show 
that  they  really  did  supernatural  deeds,  and  others  seem  to 
show  that  they  only  made  the  attempt  to  do  them.  I  do  not 
6* 


OQ  SCRIPTURE  rp:adings. 

see  any  difliculty  in  supposing  that  they  did  supernatural 
deeds.  Grant  this,  that  the  existence  of  Satan  is  a  reality, 
that  he  is  a  fiend  armed  with  an  archangel's  force,  and  capa- 
ble of  wielding  an  archangel's  wisdom,  and  I  cannot  con- 
ceive it  to  be  very  diliicult  to  believe  that  he  may  do  upon 
the  earth  deeds  that  are  supernatural,  as  well  as  what  all 
admit,  succeed  in  touching  the  human  mind  at  every  point, 
and  persuade  it  to  deeds  and  thoughts  that  are  sinful.  I 
think  it  is  even  a  greater  miracle  that  Satan  should  be  able, 
in  spite  of  my  will,  to  touch  my  mind  and  tempt  it,  than 
that  he  should  be  able  to  turn  a  rod  into  a  serpent,  or  the 
serpent  back  again  into  the  rod.  I  think  the  former  is  evi- 
dence of  as  great  power  as  the  latter  any  day.  It  is  said 
that  Aaron's  rod  became  a  serpent,  and  that  the  magicians, 
wise  men,  or  sorcerers,  for  all  these  phrases  are  synony- 
mous, "  did  in  like  manner  with  their  enchantments."  These 
enchantments  were  supposed  to  indicate  connection  with 
superior  powers  in  the  invisible  world ;  and  the  statement 
here  that  their  rods  became  serpents,  but  that  the  victory 
was  gained  by  Aaron's  rod  swallowing  up  their  rods,  seems 
very  literal  and  natural.  One  does  not  like  to  dilute  and  to 
describe  deeds  done,  not  attempted,  and  waste  down  tho 
force  of  express  Scripture  statements  into  figures,  unless 
there  be  very  clear  and  satisfactory  reasons  for  doing  so. 

But,  then,  the  other  miracle  seems  to  tell  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Aaron's  rod  was  stretched  over  the  river,  and  it 
was  turned  into  blood.  What  an  awful  spectacle  it  must 
have  been  to  the  Egyptians  to  see  the  illustrious  Nile,  whose 
waters  were  the  source  of  the  fertility  of  their  land,  and 
whose  deliciousness  was  to  them  so  refreshing,  and  which 
they  worshipped  and  adored  as  a  god,  turned  into  blood, 
and  all  its  fish  die  !  If  they  drank,  they  died  of  poison ;  if 
they  drank  not,  they  died  of  thirst.  The  milder  exhibition 
did  not  melt  the  heart  of  Pharaoh.  God  has  recourse  to  a 
severer.     I  do  not  think  that  those  rationalistic  commen- 


EXODUS  vir.  67 

tafors  arc  to  be  followed,  who  say  that  the  river  merely  as- 
sumed the  appearance  of  blood.  The  statement  is  express 
and  distinct ;  and  so  many  items  are  given  of  the  resulting 
consequences  of  this  change,  that  one  cannot  suppose  that  it 
was  not  literally  turned  into  blood. 

We  then  read,  that  "the  magicians  of  Egypt  did  so  with 
their  enchantments."  Now  here  it  seems  as  if  they  had  not 
power  to  do  these  miracles ;  because  if  all  the  water  was 
turned  into  blood,  what  water  was  there  left  for  the  ma- 
gicians to  act  upon  ?  What  could  they  do  that  could  at  all 
correspond  with  the  stupendous  feat  that  Moses  and  Aaron 
had  just  performed?  This  last  would  seem,  therefore,  to 
have  been  an  attemjot  on  their  part  in  which  they  failed ; 
and  this  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  their  other  supposed 
miracles  might  have  been  merely  attempts  that  beguiled  and 
deceived  the  few  that  were  ready  to  be  deceived,  but  not 
really  and  truly  miracles. 

How  interesting  is  the  contrast  to  all  this  that  is  presented 
in  the  Gospels !  The  Levitical  economy  dawned  in  water 
turned  into  blood,  in  judgment,  in  punishment.  The  Chris- 
tian economy  beautifully  dawned  in  water  turned  into  wine, 
and  the  very  first  miracle  that  Jesus  wrought  was  at  a 
marriage  feast,  as  if  he  would  go  forth  to  sympathize  with 
nature's  bright  things  before  he  went  out  to  weep  with  them 
that  w^ept ;  as  if  he  would  enter  into  life's  sunny  spots,  in 
order  to  show  that  Christianity  sweetens  and  sanctifies  them  ; 
before  he  went  into  life's  darker  and  sadder  ones,  carrying 
there  those  consolations  that  the  world  cannot  give,  and  that 
the  world  cannot  take  away. 

But  before  we  close  our  perusal  of  the  miracles  done  in 
Egypt,  I  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  setting  before  you  the 
reasons  that  have  been  given  on  both  sides  —  the  one  class 
of  reasons  to  show  that  the  miracles  were  real ;  the  other, 
that  they  were  only  attempts  by  the  magicians  to  imitate  the 
miracles  done  by  Moses  and  Aaron.  The  schoolmen  say,  the 
magicians  did  mirum,  a  marvel ;  not  miracidum,  a  miracle. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

PHARAOH  A  TYPE.  GOD's  DOINGS.  NILE  FOR  SEVEN  DATS  IS 
BLOOD.  THE  PLAGUE  OF  FROGS.  EGYPTIAN  OVENS.  EFFORTS 
OF  MAGICIANS.  SIN  AND  ITS  PENALTIES  INSEPARABLE.  SWARM 
OF   GNATS  AND   BEETLES.      PHARAOh's  RELENTING.      LESSON. 

PnAKAOH  is  a  too  exact  representative  of  the  natural 
man,  in  every  age  and  phasis  of  human  life  and  human  ex- 
perience. He  is  the  representative  of  one  determined  to 
have  his  own  way ;  and  yet  a  specimen  of  one  who  must  be 
either  subdued  by  Almighty  grace,  or  made  ultimately  to 
concur  in  the  way  and  purpose  of  God.  God  might,  by  the 
exercise  of  omnipotence,  at  once  have  laid  him  prostrate, 
and  let  his  people  go  ;  but  in  doing  otherwise  he  had  a  lesson 
to  teach  to  all  mankind,  as  well  as  a  benefit  and  a  blessing 
to  secure  for  his  people  Israel.  No  fact  in  the  history  of 
God's  dealings  with  his  people  is  a  dead  fact ;  all  He  does 
is  meant  for  later  ages,  to  be  impressive  to  our  hearts,  and 
to  teach  us  lessons  about  ourselves,  and  of  our  responsibility 
and  lowliness,  that  no  other  fact  could  have  so  admirably 
taught. 

It  appears,  that  during  seven  days  the  river  had  rolled 
a  current  red  witli  blood,  and  tliat  the  whole  land  of  Egypt 
was  in  a  state  of  dismay,  terror,  and  alarm,  at  the  awful 
visitation  that  had  fallen  upon  it.  The  reason  why  it 
lasted  seven  days  was,  no  doubt,  to  let  Pharaoh  see  that  it 
was  not  an  incidental  phenomenon,  but  a  clear  and  designed 
and  direct  infliction  of  God.     If  it  had  occurred  for  an  hour, 


EXODUS  VIII.  69 

and  disappeared  in  an  hour,  it  would  have  been  said  that  it 
was  some  coloring  of  some  insect  in  the  water,  or  that  it  was 
some  accidental  tinge  from  the  clay  or  soil  of  the  mountains, 
that  it  was  some  carbonate  or  muriate  of  iron,  or  other 
chemical  solution  mixed  with  the  waters.  But  when  the 
effects  became  so  palpable  as  are  here  recorded,  and  these 
effects  lasted  so  long,  there  could  be  no  mistaking  that  this 
was  a  judgment  from  on  high. 

Well,  when  Moses  went  to  Pharaoh,  and  aslv^  him  to 
let  the  people  go,  and  he  refused,  then  the  judgment  was 
inflicted  which  is  threatened  in  the  third  verse,  namely,  the 
banks  of  the  river  brought  forth  frogs  abundantly ;  and  so 
universal  was  this  infliction,  that  they  went  into  Pharaoh's 
house,  and  into  his  bedchamber,  and  upon  his  bed,  and  into 
the  house  of  his  servants,  and  upon  his  people,  and  into 
their  ovens  and  kneading-troughs.  One  can  conceive  noth- 
ing more  horrible,  or  more  offensive,  or  more  completely  an 
infliction  upon  a  great,  wealthy,  and  powerful  nation.  But 
it  strikes  one  as  a  strange  thing  to  speak  of  frogs  going  into 
ovens.  As  our  ovens  are,  of  course,  the  approach  of  a  frog 
would  be  impossible  from  the  intensity  of  the  heat  with 
which  the  oven  is  charged,  and  its  height  from  the  ground. 
But  an  Egyptian  oven  was  a  hole  in  the  earth,  in  which 
they  put  wood  for  a  Are,  over  which  they  put  an  earthen 
pitcher,  and  the  bread  was  placed  inside  that,  and  baked  by 
the  action  of  the  fire  in  the  hole  beneath.  It  seems  to  us  a 
barbarous  mode,  but  it  was  the  Egyptian  one.  And  you 
caai  conceive  that  when  this  hole  was  filled  with  frogs,  the 
preparation  of  bread  would  thereby  become  utterly  imprac- 
ticable. 

"We  read  next,  that  "  the  magicians  did  so  with  their  en- 
chantments." Now  there  are  two  solutions  of  this.  It 
seems  in  some  parts,  that  the  magicians  made  the  attempt  to 
do  these  things,  and  could  not:  for  it  is  asserted  in  the  18th 
verse,  that  "  the  magicians  did  so  with  their  enchantments 


70  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

to  bring  forth  lice,  but  they  could  not."  But  then  it  seems 
in  other  passages,  that  they  unquestionably  succeeded  in 
doing  so  ;  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  best  divines, 
that  they  were  enabled,  by  infranatural  aid.  And  perhaps 
the  solution  that  has  been  suggested  to  me  is  true,  that  some 
of  these  judgments  were  divine  inflictions  of  what  the  magi- 
cians had  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  on  a  much  smaller 
scale.  You  are  aware  that  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  He- 
brew ver#,  there  is  the  perfect,  and  also  the  imperfect  tense. 
For  instance,  docuit  means  that  he  taught,  or  did  it  at  once ; 
but  docehat  means  that  he  was  teaching,  or  was  in  the  habit 
of  doing  so.  Now  here,  the  words,  "  The  magicians  did  so" 
may  mean  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of  doing  a  miracle, 
not  in  quantity,  but  in  effect,  apparently  as  good  as  this. 
And  since  Moses  and  Aaron  had  not  done  any  thing  much 
superior  to  what  the  magicians  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
doing,  therefore  Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened,  such  a  mira- 
cle not  being  sufl[iciently  conclusive  of  Divine  power. 

However,  "  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
said,"  evidently  pained  and  grieved  at  the  extent  of  the  last 
affliction,  "  Entreat  the  Lord,"  recognizing  Jehovah,  "  that 
he  may  take  away  the  frogs  from  me."  Now  that  is  human 
nature  thoroughly.  Whenever  man  is  in  affliction,  his 
prayer  is,  "  Take  it  away  ;  "  but  he  never  dreams,  until  he 
is  taught  of  God,  of  taking  away  the  sin  that  brings  on  the 
affliction.  For  instance,  in  1849,  many  prayed,  and  prayed 
most  justly,  "Take  away  the  cholera;"  but  they  did  not 
care  to  help  to  take  away  the  provocative  of  it,  —  the 
wretched  habitations  in  which  the  poorer  classes  dwell. 
Now,  we  have  no  right  to  pray  God  to  take  away  an  afflic- 
tion which  falls  upon  us  judicially,  paternally,  or  penally, 
unless  we  show  by  our  own  acts  that  we  are  parting  with 
the  sin  which  brings  down  the  judgment  upon  us.  And  so, 
in  the  time  of  the  recent  papal  aggression,  many  prayed, 
"  Take  away  this   offensive   intrusion   on   the  throne  and 


EXODUS    VIII.  71 

jurisdiction  of  our  country."  But  what  brought  that  in  ? 
No  doubt  the  very  greatly  tolerated  Tractarianism  that 
overspread  a  section  of  the  Church  ;  and  if  they  who  should, 
had  taken  away  the  Puseyism,  we  never  should  have  had 
the  Popery :  if  you  had  nipped  the  bud,  you  never  would 
have  had  the  full-blown  blossom.  You  must  take  away  the 
sin  that  provokes,  and  then  God  will  take  away  the  judg- 
ment that  follows  that  sin.  So,  if  a  man  is  visited  with 
affliction,  he  says,  "  Take  away  this  calamity  ; "  but  he  does 
not  dream  that  all  outward  visitations  of  Providence  have  a 
connection  more  or  less  remote  with  something  that  is 
w^rong  ;  that  they  are  not  the  afflictions  of  God,  so  much  as 
generated  by  the  faults  and  sins  of  the  individual  himself. 

Then  we  read,  that  when  Pharaoh  said,  "  Entreat  the 
Lord  that  he  take  away  the  frogs,  but  let  my  hardness 
of  heart  remain  ;  take  away  the  judgment,  but  let  the  poor 
Israelites  be  ground  to  the  earth  in  making  me  rich,  and 
prosperous,  and  great,"  Moses  said,  evidently  bearing  and 
forbearing,  "  Glory  over  me  ;"  that  is,  "  Very  well ;  I  wish 
you  to  get  all  the  credit,  if  there  be  any  at  all,  in  making 
the  suggestion.  I  want  no  glory ;  I  desire  only  to  do  good. 
And  therefore,  glory  over  me ;  I  give  you  every  advantage. 
And  to  show  how  anxious  I  am  to  accommodate  my  prefer- 
ences to  your  comfort,  when  shall  I  entreat  for  thee,  and 
for  thy  servants,  and  for  thy  people?  I  will  go  at  any 
hour  of  the  day  or  night."  And  Pharaoh  said,  "  To-mor- 
row." You  will  naturally  ask,  why  to-morrow  ?  The 
answer  is,  that  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  which  after  all  was 
but  your  heart  and  mine,  intensified  and  magnified,  was 
essentially  unbelieving,  full  of  blasphemy  and  wickedness ; 
and  he  had  the  latent  persuasion  that  the  frogs  were  not 
really  an  affliction  of  God ;  that  they  were,  after  all,  a 
natural  phenomenon  ;  and  he  thought  he  would  just  wait  one 
day  more,  and  see  if  the  wind  that  brought  them  would 
carry   them   away;    since   then   he   would   be   able   more 


72  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

decidedly  than  ever  to  hold  fast  Israel,  and  defy  the 
attempts  of  Moses  and  Aaron  to  let  them  go.  Moses, 
however,  said  (and  here  is  the  Christian  forbearance  of  the 
minister  of  a  people  so  much  trodden  down,  afflicted,  and 
persecuted)  "  Very  well ;  be  it  according  to  thy  word :  that 
thou  mayest  know  that  there  is  none  like  unto  the  Lord  our 
God."  Moses  and  Aaron  accordingly  cried  or  prayed  unto 
the  Lord,  and  he  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses,  and 
the  frogs  were  removed. 

Then  comes  the  fourth  judgment,  "  Stretch  out  thy  rod, 
and  smite  the  dust  of  the  land,  that  it  may  become  lice 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt."  This  is  altogether  a 
wrong  translation  —  there  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  the 
creature  meant  is  the  mosquito  gnat.  In  the  Greek  Septua- 
gint  the  word  is  aavccpeg,  which  denotes  gnats.  And  those  who 
have  been  in  warm  climates  know  what  a  tremendously  vex- 
atious infliction  would  be,  the  whole  atmosphere  filled  with 
mosquito  gnats,  making  life  intolerable,  and  existence  a  per- 
petual fever.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  real 
infliction.  The  other  is  scarcely  possible  in  Eastern  cli- 
mates ;  and  it  led  the  magicians  to  say,  when  they  could  not 
produce  the  same  result,  "  This  is  the  finger  of  God : "  and 
yet,  you  observe,  Pharaoh's  heart  was  still  hardened,  and  he 
hearkened  not  unto  them  ;  as  the  Lord  had'  said. 

We  then  read  of  another  infliction,  called  in  our  transla- 
tion "  swarms  of  flies ; "  but  you  wall  find  that  the  words 
"  of  flies  "  are  in  italics,  which  denotes  that  those  words  are 
not  in  the  original,  but  have  been  interpolated  by  the  trans- 
lators to  make  the  idea  more  clear.  All  that  the  original 
says  of  this  fiftli  judgment  is,  in  the  twenty-first  verse,  "  I 
will  send  swarms ; "  in  the  twenty-second  verse,  "  No  swarms 
shall  be  there ; "  and  again,  in  the  twenty-fourth  verse,  "The 
land  was  corrupted  by  reason  of  the  swarm."  I  think  that 
this  was  a  swarm  of  beetles.  You  will  sec  in  the  British 
Museum   specimens   of  the  Carabean   beetle,  which  was 


EXODUS    VIII.  73 

almost  worsliipped  as  a  god  by  the  Egyptians ;  and  it  would 
seem  that  the  swarms  that  covered  the  land  were  swarms 
just  of  the  very  deities  that  they  worshipped.  Every  plague 
had  some  alhision  to  the  popular  mythology  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  was  meant,  while  demonstrating  the  })0wer  of  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  to  pour  contempt  upon  all  the  gods  of 
Pharaoh  ;  and  as  the  beetle  was  one  of  the  divinities  of  tlie 
Egyptians,  who  were  thus  morally  and  spiritually  degraded, 
though  intellectually  great  —  striking  proof  how  the  intel- 
lect may  be  filled  with  light,  and  yet  there  may  be  no 
warmth  in  the  heart,  and  no  beauty  in  the  life,  and  no  purity 
in  worship  —  it  was  an  infliction  upon  one  of  the  deities  that 
they  worshipped,  and  no  less  so  on  its  worshippers  ;  and 
was  thus  meant  to  demonstrate  the  power  of  God,  and  to 
degrade  an  object  of  Egyptian  worship. 

Then  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses,  evidently  relenting  a 
little,  every  blow  coming  heavier  upon  the  reluctant  heart 
of  the  king,  and  producing  unexpected  impressions  and 
effects ;  and  he  said,  "  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to  your  God  in  the 
land."  In  the  eighth  vei'se  he  had  promised  this,  and  broken 
his  word ;  but  now  he  says  he  will  fulfil  that  promise.  You 
recollect  that  the  request  was,  "  Let  us  go  three  days'  jour- 
ney into  the  wilderness."  Pharaoh  relents  so  far  as  to  with- 
draw his  obstinate  refusal  of  their  request  to  offer  a  sacri- 
fice, but  he  says,  "  You  must  not  go  so  far  into  the  wilder- 
ness," being  afraid  of  their  escape,  "  but  sacrifice  in  this  the 
land  of  Egypt."  But  Moses  said,  •'  That  we  cannot  do. 
We  must  either  have  the  whole,  or  we  can  have  nothing. 
And  there  is  an  obvious  reason  for  it.  If  we  were  to  sacri- 
fice in  this  land,  we  should  sacrifice  a  lamb,  a  heifer,  or  an 
ox.  Now  you  know  that  these  be  your  gods ;  and  if,  as  we 
are  bound  by  law  to  do,  we  should  sacrifice  these  animals  to 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  then  we  should  offer  up  what  would  be  a 
perfect  abomination  in  your  sight.  We  have  no  right  to 
give  unnecessary  oflfence  to  any.  It  is  not  the  way  to  en- 
7 


74  SCKIFTURE    READINGS. 

lighten  those  who  are  opposed  to  us,  to  pour  contempt  upon 
them.  It  is  not  tlie  way  to  win  the  victim  of  superstition 
from  his  errors,  to  set  tjiese  errors  in  a  ridiculous  light.  We 
ought  to  try  faithfully,  and  in  love,  to  convince,  to  convert, 
and  to  win ;  but  we  are  not  warranted  needlessly  to  oifend 
the  prejudices  of  any  party  whatever.  Pharaoh  said,  "  I 
will  let  you  go,  that  ye  may  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  your  God 
in  the  wilderness ;  only  ye  shall  not  go  very  far  away,"  — 
his  avarice  relaxing,  but  still  strong.  He  consents  to  let 
them  go  into  the  wilderness  at  last,  but  instead  of  going 
three  days,  he  only  wishes  them  to  go  three  hours'  journey ; 
so  that  in  case  of  their  attempting  to  escape,  he  might  bring 
them  back  by  his  armies.  "And  Moses  said,  I  will  entreat 
the  Lord  that  the  swarms  of  beetles  may  depart  from 
Pharaoh,  from  his  servants,  and  from  his  people  to-morrow ; 
but  let  not  Pharaoh  deal  deceitfully  any  more  in  not  letting 
thy  peoj^le  go  to  sacrifice  to  the  Lord."  —  You  have  de- 
ceived me  so  often,  you  have  given  promises  made  only  to 
be  broken  so  frequently,  that  I  must  beg  of  you  not  to 
deceive  me  any  more.  Moses  went  out  and  entreated  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  did  what  Pharaoh  asked ;  but  the  result 
was,  that  "  Pharaoh  hardened  his  heart  at  this  time  also, 
neither  would  he  let  the  people  go." 

Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  also  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  departing  from  the  living  God. 


CHAPTER  IX 


REASON  FOR  GOD  S  DEALIXG.  A  PRECEDENT.  GOD  S  REVERENCE 
TO  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  HIS  CREATURES.  PLAGUE  ON  CAT- 
TLB.  ANIMAL  SUFFERING.  PLAGUE  OF  BODILY  DISEASE. 
PLAGUE  OF  HAIL. 

I  AM  sure  it  will  naturally  suggest  itself  to  every  reader 
and  hearer  of  the  remarkable  series  of  judgments  recorded 
in  this  chapter,  to  inquire,  why  did  not  God  at  once,  by  one 
stroke,  prostrate  all  the  power  of  Pharaoh,  and  emancipate 
his  people?  Why  did  he  send  judgment  after  judgment,  to 
convince  the  unconvinceable,  instead  of  wielding  at  once 
omnipotent  power,  and  setting  forth  his  people  upon  their 
majestic  and  glorious  exodus  ?  The  only  available  answer 
is  found  in  the  analogies  presented  by  God's  dealings  with 
mankind.  We  may  put  many  a  "  why,"  to  which  silence  is 
the  only  and  the  most  reverend  answer.  It  is  recorded  here, 
as  inspired  matter  of  fact,  and  we  are  quite  sure,  that,  as 
certain  as  it  was  the  doing  of  God,  so  certain  it  was  worthy 
of  his  justice,  wisdom,  goodness,  mercy,  and  truth.  But 
may  it  not  have  been  done,  and  stand  recorded  here,  as  a 
precedent  of  his  dealings  with  nations  in  all  ages  ?  Do  we 
not  find  still,  that,  when  a  nation  (for  we  are  here  speaking 
of  nations)  sins,  God  sends  one  judgment,  and  if  that  does 
not  produce  a  due  effect,  that  he  sends  another,  and  another, 
and  another  still?  Thus  we  read,  in  Amos  iv.  6-12:  "And 
I  also  have  given  you  cleanness  of  teeth  in  all  your  cities, 
and  want  of  bread  in  all  your  places  :  yet  have  ye  not 
returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.     And  also  I  have  with- 


76  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

holtlen  the  rain  from  you,  when  there  were  yet  three  months 
to  the  harvest :  and  I  caused  it  to  rain  upon  one  city,  and 
caused  it  not  to  rain  upon  another  city :  one  piece  was  rained 
upon,  and  the  piece  whereupon  it  rained  not  withered.  So 
two  or  three  cities  wandered  unto  one  city,  to  drink  water  ; 
but  tliey  were  not  satisfied :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto 
me,  saith  the  Lord.  I  have  smitten  you  with  bLasting  and 
mildew  :  when  your  gardens  and  your  vineyards  and  your 
fig  trees  and  your  olive  trees  increased,  the  palmer-worm  de- 
voured them :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the 
Lord.  I  have  sent  among  you  the  pestilence  after  the  man- 
ner of  Egypt :  your  young  men  have  I  slain  with  the  sword, 
and  have  taken  away  your  horses  ;  and  I  have  made  the 
stink  of  your  camps  to  come  up  unto  your  nostrils  :  yet  have 
ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  I  have  over- 
thrown some  of  you,  as  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah, and  ye  were  as  a  firebrand  plucked  out  of  the 
burning  :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
Th9refore  thus  will  I  do  unto  thee,  0  Israel :  and  because 
I  will  do  this  unto  thee,  prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  O  Israel." 
It  seems  as  if  God  Avould  not  force  man  by  power,  but  per- 
suade him  by  mercy,  by  love,  by  patience,  by  forbearance, 
by  truth.  It  seems,  in  all  God's  dealings,  both  in  the  Gospel 
and  in  the  law,  as  if  He  had  that  reverence  for  the  creature 
he  has  made,  that  he  will  ever  treat  that  creature,  not  as  a 
machine,  to  be  driven,  but  as  a  rational  and  responsible  being, 
to  be  drawn  with  cords  of  love,  and  with  the  bands  of  mercy. 
It  was  said  by  one  of  tlie  greatest  orators  of  our  country, 
that  such  is  our  constitutional  freedom,  that  all  the  winds  of 
heaven  may  enter  at  every  cranny,  and  all  the  rains  of  the 
sky  may  enter  by  every  tile,  in  the  humblest  hut  of  the 
humblest  peasant,  but  not  even  royalty  itself  can  enter 
without  that  peasant's  permission  and  consent.  It  looks  as 
if  God  would  treat  his  creatures  in  the  same  way.  It  seems 
as  if  even  the  prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  will  not  force 


EXODUS    IX.  77 

an  entrance  into  man's  mind  against  his  will.  God  made  us 
with  the  lofty  attributes  of  responsibility,  volition,  feeling, 
and  he  deals  with  us,  not  as  an  Omnipotent  Being,  who  can 
crush  a  frail  and  fragile  creature,  but  as  a  Ruler,  a  Father, 
and  Friend,  resolved  to  persuade,  or  to  give  up  the  effort 
altogether.  This  explains,  in  some  degree,  his  dealings  with 
Pharaoh  in  this  and  the  previous  chapter. 

To  turn  more  immediately  to  this  chapter,  Moses  again 
approaches  Pharaoh,  by  the  command  of  his  God,  and 
beseeches  him  to  let  his  people  go;  and  then  he  tells  him, 
that,  if  he  refuse  again,  there  will  be  sent  on  all  the  cattle 
of  Egypt  "  a  grievous  murrain."  This  is  some  disease,  our 
English  word  for  which  is  derived  probably  from  the  Greek 
verb  fiapan'ij,  which  means  to  wither  and  fade  away ;  or  it 
may  be  derived  from  the  French  word  moiirir  —  "  to  die  or 
perish."  It  was,  no  doubt,  some  wasting  or  consumptive 
disease  that  attacked  all  the  cattle  of  the  land,  and  that 
emphatically  and  distinctively  indicated  that  the  hand  of 
God  was  upon  them.  But,  at  the  same  time,  while  this  dis- 
ease lighted  upon  the  cattle  that  belonged  to  Pharaoh,  the 
cattle  of  the  Israelites  were  not  one  of  them  touched.  Now, 
this  was  a  very  palpable  distinction,  meant  to  persuade 
Pharaoh  that  these  visitations  were  not  accidents,  that  might 
be  explained  by  the  laws  of  natural  phenomena,  but  that  they 
were  direct  strokes  of  God,  and  that  they  were  drawn  down 
by  the  sins  of  the  one  class,  as  they  were  averted  by  the 
loyalty  and  fealty  to  God  exhibited  by  the  other. 

It  seems  a  very  sad  thing  that  the  inoffensive  cattle  should 
suffer  ;  and  the  sceptic  will  not  be  slow  to  ask.  Why  should 
God  smite  the  cattle  ?  But  the  great  law,  that  seems  to  run 
through  all  the  dealings  of  God,  is  that  man,  the  great  lord 
of  creation,  brought  ruin,  not  only  upon  himself,  but  upon 
all  creatures,  and  still,  as  he  sins,  his  subjects  suffer 
"Wherever  you  see  an  animal  die,  a  leaf  fall,  or  the  lower 
creation  suffer,  there  you  have,  as  in  a  faithful  mirror,  th^ 
7  * 


78  SCRIE'TURE    HEADINGS. 

reflection  of  man's  primal  and  great  sin.  Adam's  sin  brought 
death,  not  only  upon  himself,  but  upon  all  creation.  At  the 
flood,  also,  we  read  that  animals  perished  ;  and  if  we  retire 
from  Scripture  altogether,  and  take  the  ground  that  the 
Deist  will,  at  least,  accept  as  proper,  we  shall  find  that  if 
war  is  waged,  the  beautiful  horse  suffers  as  w^ell  as  the 
bravest  soldier  ;  and  we  see  everywhere,  constantly,  that 
animals  suffer  from  man's  doings.  Therefore,  if  it  be  an 
argument  against  God's  book,  that  animals  are  visited  with 
punishment  because  of  man's  sin,  it  will  be  an  argument 
against  God's  government  of  the  world,  that  animals  suff"er 
because  of  man's  misdoing.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe, 
not  that  the  brute  creation  will  be  raised  from  the  dead,  but 
that  a  day  comes,  when  the  whole  animal  creation  shall  be 
emancipated,  and  restored  to  its  pristine  happiness  and 
fellowship  with  each  other  and  with  man.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  all  the  animal  creation  is  in  an  abnormal  and 
unnatural  state;  but  there  is  express  prophecy  that  a  day 
comes,  when  creation's  lord  shall  be  reinstated  in  his  lost 
prerogatives  and  dignity  —  when  all  that  fell  with  him, 
shall  rejoice  together  with  him.  Nay,  the  Apostle  Paul 
says,  (Romans  viii.  22,)  " Ttuaa  rj  ktIgic "  —  "all  creation 
groans  and  travails  in  pain,  waiting  for  "  —  what  ?  —  "  the 
manifestation  "  —  that  is,  the  perfect  company  and  gathering 
—  "  of  the  sons  "  —  or  people  —  "  of  God." 

But  notwithstanding  this  plague,  Pharaoh's  heart  was  still 
hardened,  and  therefore  another  plague  was  sent.  Ashes 
were  to  be  sprinkled  towards  heaven  by  the  servant  of 
God,  and  disease  should  in  an  instant  break  out  upon  man 
and  beast  throughout  the  land.  The  magicians  were  affected 
by  tliis  plague,  and,  after  this  period,  they  disappear  alto- 
gether. Their  services  seem  no  longer  to  have  been  required 
by  their  infatuated  ruler.  They,  no  doubt,  felt  themselves 
perfectly  humbled,  by  being  afflicted  by  a  disease,  no  longer 
now  outside  themselves,  but  of  which  they  were  the  suffer- 


EXODUS    IX.  7^ 

ing  and  helpless  victims.  They  disappear  from  the  stage ; 
and  yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  Pharaoh  was  not  changed. 
It  is  said,  in  the  12th  verse,  "And  the  Lord  hardened  the 
heart  of  Pharaoh."  Now,  from  the  beginning,  the  expres- 
sion has  been,  "  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  hardened  ;  "  and 
as  that  is  the  common  expression,  we  must  explain  this 
peculiar  and  rare  one  in  the  light  of  the  common  one. 
Clearly  it  means,  as  I  said  before,  that  these  dealings  of 
God  with  Pharaoh,  instead  of  softening  his  heart  only  hard- 
ened it.  God  is  said  here  to  do  that  directly  which  he  did 
indirectly.  It  reads  as  if  he  were  the  cause  of  it,  when 
really  he  was  only  the  occasion  of  it.  Just  as  the  gospel  is 
the  savour  of  death  to  some  —  not  the  cause  of  it,  but  the 
occasion  of  it.  And  this  removes  all  possibility  of  impu- 
tation upon  God  for  these  dealings  with  Pharaoh. 

The  16th  verse  I  have  heard  most  erroneously  quoted,  as 
if  "  for  this  cause  have  I  raised  thee  up,"  meant,  "  For  this 
cause  I  made  or  created  you  at  the  first."  Now,  the  words 
"  raise  up  "  here,  are  the  same  as  those  used  in  the  Epistle 
of  St.  James,  where  he  says,  that  the  Lord  shall  raise  up 
the  sick  man  —  that  is,  restore  him  to  health.  So  the  Lord 
says  here,  "  For  this  cause  I  have  raised  you  up  once,  twice, 
thrice,  out  of  the  wreck  of  each  successive  judgment ;  I 
have  spared  you  ;  I  have  not  suffered  you  to  be  utterly 
destroyed,  just  in  order  that  you  may  be  the  medium,  in  my 
hand,  of  setting  forth  my  glory,  and  declaring  my  forbear- 
ing patience  and  goodness  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth." 

We  then  read  of  a  grevious  hail  and  rain,  that  was 
brought  down  upon  the  whole  land  of  Egypt.  Now,  Egypt 
has  very  little  rain  —  it  is  not  true  that  there  is  none, 
though  I  read  that  thunder  and  lightning  are  rarer  in  that 
land  than  in  most  countries.  You  can  conceive,  therefore, 
what  an  impression  must  have  been  produced  upon  the 
whole  people  of  Egypt,  when  the  electric  fluid,  that  ruslied 
along  the  ground,  darted  from  the  earth  to  the  sky,  and 


80  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

from  sky  to  earth,  with  ceaseless  corruscatlons,  accompanied 
with  hail  and  rain,  and  the  destruction  of  the  herbs,  and  all 
the  trees  —  that  is,  all  sorts  of  trees  —  throughout  the 
whole  land.  It  seems  that  this  judgment,  from  its  over- 
whelming majesty,  made  a  very  great  impression  upon 
Pharaoh  ;  for  he  said,  "  I  have  sinned  this  time  :  the  Lord 
is  righteous,  and  I  and  my  people  are  wicked.  Entreat  the 
Lord  (for  it  is  enough)  that  there  be  no  more  mighty  thun- 
derings  and  hail ;  and  I  will  let  you  go,  and  ye  shall  stay 
no  longer."  Now,  there  is  really  much  in  this  confession  of 
Pharaoh,  that  looks  like  genuine  repentance.  First,  his 
confession  was  open,  and  this  was  most  favorable  ;  secondly, 
he  showed  a  sense  of  sin  —  also  very  favorable  ;  thirdly,  he 
spoke  of  his  sin  as  committed  against  God ;  fourthly,  he 
owned  God's  justice  in  this  matter  —  ''The  Lord  is  right- 
eous ; "  fifthly,  he  indicated  that  he  had  some  idea  of  Divine 
mercy  ;  for  he  says,  "  Entreat  the  Lord  "  —  evidently  with 
an  idea  that  God  might  be  merciful ;  and  sixthly,  he  formed 
a  good  resolution,  "  I  will  let  you  go."  Now,  this  looks  like 
genuine  repentance.  But  where  was  the  fault?  In  what 
respect  was  it  defective  ?  I  answer,  first,  it  was  forced  by 
terror,  not  generated  by  love.  Many  persons  have  an  idea 
that  repentance  is  the  product  of  terror,  alarm,  dismay. 
.  Such  is  not  repentance.  Repentance  springs  from  a  saving 
sight  of  Jesus  Christ  —  the  manifestation  of  God's  love  to 
lost  and  perishing  sinners.  Repentance  is  not  generated  by 
the  thunders  of  the  law,  nor  th.^  terrors  of  death,  but  by  the 
sight  of  Christ  crucified  for  our  transgressions.  What  does 
the  Bible  say  ?  "  They  shall  look  upon  Him  whom  they 
have  pierced,"  and  then  "  they  shall  mourn."  And  again, 
"  Christ  is  exalted  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repent- 
ance and  forgiveness  of  sins."  In  other  words,  repentance 
is  not  produced  by  the  hail,  thunder,  or  rains  of  judgment, 
but  by  the  gentle  falling  of  the  silent  dew,  that  saturates  the 
soil  upon  which  it  falls,  and  creates  responsive  repentance, 


EXODUS    IX.  81 

love,  -worship,  and  loyalty  to  God.  In  the  second  place, 
Pharaoh's  repentance  here  was  destitute  of"  humiliation. 
There  was  no  real  humbling  of  himself;  and,  in  the  next 
place,  there  was  no  renunciation  of  his  sin.  His  cry  was 
always,  "  Take  away  the  frogs,  take  away  the  hail,"  but 
never  "take  away  the  sin."  And,  lastly,  it  was  temporary. 
He  no  sooner  felt  it,  than  it  was  dissipated,  and  disappeared. 
Now,  wherever  there  is  real  repentance,  remember  it  is 
the  result  of  faith  in  Christ  Jesus;  secondly,  it  humbles; 
and,  lastly,  it  is  permanent.  Let  us  learn  this  lesson  from 
the  whole,  that  no  preaching  of  terror,  no  infliction  of  judg- 
ments, will  ever  make  a  person  repent.  That  must  be  done 
by  Calvary,  not  by  Mount  Sinai ;  by  the  sweet  influence 
of  the  gospel,  not  by  the  thunder  and  the  terrors  of  a  broken 
law. 


The  following  very  illustrative  observations,  not,  however, 
exempt  from  difficulties,  are  by  Hengstenberg,  the  German 
divine  :  — 

THE  CONNECTION  OF  THE  SUrEKNATURAL  "WITH  THE  NATURAL  IN  THE 
PLAGUES  OF  EGYPT. 

The  part  of  Exodus  which  we  now  proceed  to  examine,  is  of  great  im- 
portance for  our  object,  first  and  principally  in  that  the  supernatural 
events  described,  all  find  a  foundation  in  the  natural  phenomena  of  Egypt, 
and  stand  in  close  connection  witli  ordinary  occurrences,  and  also  on  ac- 
count of  the  many  separate  references  in  the  narrative,  which  show  how 
ver}--  accurate  the  author's  knowledge  of  Egypt  was. 

As  respects  the  first  point,  many  have  wished  to  make  the  connection 
of  the  wonders  with  the  natural  phenomena  of  Egypt,  an  argument 
against  the  Pentateuch.  So,  indeed,  the  English  deists  have  done,  as,  for 
example,  Morgan.  Among  those  more  recent,  V.  Bohlen  is  conspicuous. 
JMoses,  he  remarks,  in  order  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  self-deception,  was 
at  least  obliged  to  express  himself  in  the  mildest  manner  possible  among 
his  contemporaries,  who  Avere  so  well  acquainted  with  Egypt,  if  he  wished 
to  make  the  commonly  observed  natural  phenomena  avail  as  miracles. 
But  it  is  perfectly  clear,  that  these  occurrences,  as  they  are  related,  not- 
withstanding their  foundation  in  nature,  always  maintained  their  charac- 
ter as  miracles,  and  consequently  are  sufficient  to  prove  what  they  arc  in- 
tended to  prove,  and  to  accomplish  what  they  did  accomplish.     Attempts 


82  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

to  merge  the  supernatural  in  the  natural,  such  as  have  been  made  by  Du 
Bois  Ayme,  and  then  by  Eichhorn,  -will  not  accomplish  their  design.  In- 
deed, the  unusual  force  in  which  the  common  exhibitions  of  nature  here 
manifest  themselves,  and  especially  their  rapid  succession,  while  at  other 
times  only  a  single  one  exhibits  itself  with  unusual  intensity,  as  well  as 
the  fact  that  Eichhorn,  notwithstanding  all  the  unnatural  misrepresenta- 
tions in  which  he  allowed  himself,  yet  found  material  for  a  treatise  on  the 
wonderful  year  of  Egypt,  —  if  we  at  the  same  time  consider  these  events 
in  connection  with  the  changing  cause  of  them,  and  also  take  into  account 
the  exemption  of  the  land  of  Goshen,  —  bring  us  to  the  limits  of  the  mirac- 
ulous ;  for  the  transition  to  the  miraculous  is  reached  by  the  extraordinary 
in  its  highest  gradation. 

Moses'  Rod  changed  to  a  Serpent. 

After  these  general  remarks,  we  turn  to  particular  explanations.  A 
sign,  which  is  of  a  harmless  nature,  precedes,  in  Exodus  vii.  8-13,  the 
signs  which  are  comprehended  in  the  number  ten  as  a  perfect  number,  and 
which  are  also  plagues.  Trial  is  first  made,  whether  Pharaoh,  in  reference 
to  whom  Calvin  so  strikingly  says,  "  There  is  presented  us  in  the  person 
of  one  abandoned,  an  example  of  human  arrogance  and  rebellion,"  Avill 
not  become  wise  Avithout  severe  measures.  INIoses'  rod  is  changed  into  a 
serpent;  the  Egyptian  magicians  accomplish,  at  least  in  appearance,  the 
same  thing;  but  Moses' rod  swallows  up  their  rods.  This  counter  won- 
der of  the  Egyptian  magicians  is  founded  on  the  peculiar  condition  of 
Egypt ;  much  more  is  the  ]\Iosaic  sign  —  the  same  by  which  indeed  Moses 
had  already,  by  the  Divine  command,  proved  his  commission  from  God, 
among  the  elders  of  his  people.  Moses  was  furnished  with  power  to  per 
form  that  which  the  Egyptian  magicians  most  especially  gloried  in,  and 
by  which  they  most  of  all  supported  their  authority. 

The  incantation  of  serpents  has  been  native  to  Egypt  from  the  most 
ancient  even  to  the  present  time.  The  French  scholars,  in  their  descrip- 
tion, have  given  the  most  accoi-dant  accounts  of  it.  Even  those  who 
entered  upon  an  examination  of  the  subject  with  most  absolute  unbelief, 
have  been  forced  to  the  conviction  that  there  is  something  in  it  —  that  the 
Psylli  are  found  in  possession  of  a  secret  charm,  which  places  them  in  a 
condition  to  bring  about  the  most  wonderful  consequences.  "  We  confess," 
it  is  said,  that  we,  "  far  removed  from  all  easy  credulity,  have  ourselves 
been  witnesses  of  some  things  so  wonderful,  that  we  cannot  consider  the 
art  of  the  serpent  tamers  as  entirely  chimerical.  "We  believed,  at  first, 
that  they  removed  the  teeth  of  serpents,  and  the  stings  of  scorpions;  but 
we  have  had  opportunity  to  convince  ourselves  of  the  contrary."  That 
they  do  not  probably  break  out  the  poisonous  teeth,  llasselquist  also  testi- 
fies, from  personal  observation.  According  to  the  account  in  the  Descrip- 
tion, the  art  passes  from  father  to  son.  The  Psylli  form  an  association, 
claiming  to  be  the  only  individuals  who  are  able  to  charm  serpents,  and  to 


EXODUS    IX.  83 

free  houses  from  them.  Never  does  any  other  than  the  son  of  a  Psylli 
attaui  to  this  abihty.  Serpents,  in  Egypt,  often  conceal  themselves  in  the 
houses,  and  then  become  vevy  dangerous.  When  any  thing  of  this  kind 
is  suspected,  tliey  have  recourse  to  the  Psylli.  The  French  commander- 
in-chief  wished,  at  a  certain  time,  to  examine  the  afTixir  to  the  bottom. 
He  called  for  the  Psylli,  and  commanded  them  to  produce  from  the  palace 
a  serpent,  -which,  from  traces  discovered,  was  supposed  to  be  there.  The 
moist  phxces  were  especially  examined.  There  the  Psylli  called,  by  imi- 
tating the  hissing,  sometimes  of  the  male,  and  sometimes  of  the  female 
serpent.  After  two  hours  and  a  fourth,  a  serpent  truly  presented  itself. 
In  the  religious  festivals,  the  Psylli  appear  entirely  naked,  with  the  neck, 
arms,  and  other  parts  of  the  body  coiled  around  by  serpents,  which  they 
permit  to  sting  and  tear  their  breast  and  stomacli,  and  effectually  defend 
themselves  against  them  with  a  sort  of  frenzj",  pretending  to  wish  to  eat 
ihom  alive.  Their  sleight  of  hand  is  very  various.  They  are  able,  accord- 
ing to  their  assertions,  to  change  the  Haie  —  i.  e.  the  species  of  serpent 
which  they  especially  make  use  of  for  their  tricks  —  into  a  rod,  and  com- 
pel them  to  feign  themselves  dead.  When  they  wish  to  perform  this  ope- 
ration, they  spit  in  the  throat  of  the  animal,  compel  it  to  shut  up  its 
mouth,  and  lay  it  down  upon  tlie  ground.  Then,  as  if  in  order  to  give  a 
last  command,  they  lay  their  hand  upon  its  head,  and  immediately  the 
serpent,  stiff  and  motionless,  falls  into  a  kind  of  torpor.  They  wake  it  up 
Avlicn  they  wish,  seizing  it  by  the  tail,  and  rolling  it  roughly  between  the 
hands."     Du  Bois  Ayme  gives  his  testimony  to  the  same  thing. 

Whatever  opinion  they  had  of  it,  this  is  certain,  that  even  in  the  first 
three  signs,  the  superior  power  of  the  God  of  Israel  made  itself  sufficiently 
known  to  any  one  who  did  not  studiously  seek  a  support  for  his  unbelief 
and  rebellion.  They  change,  it  matters  not  whether  really  or  in  appear- 
ance, their  rods  into  serpents,  but  the  rod  of  Moses  swallows  up  their  rods; 
they  also  change,  at  least  on  a  small  scale,  water  into  blood;  but  they  are 
not  able  to  restore  the  blood  to  its  former  state.  In  like  manner,  imitating 
on  a  small  scale  the  miracle  of  Closes,  they  brought  up  frogs  upon  the 
land,  but  they  were  not  able  to  free  it  from  the  plague  of  frogs.  "  For  the 
punishment  of  the  Eg\^ptians,"  says  Theodoret,  "  God  gave  also  to  magi- 
cians power,  but  not  for  removing  punishment,  since  the  king  had  not 
enough  of  his  plagues,  but  even  commanded  the  magicians  to  increase  the 
chastisement;  so  God  also  punished  him  through  these.  Thou  art  not  yet 
satisfied  with  the  punishment  inflicted  by  my  servants,  so  punish  I  thee 
also  by  thine  own."  And  the  relative  power  of  the  Egyytian  magicians 
in  the  beginning,  must  serve  to  show  in  so  much  clearer  light  their  entire 
impotence,  as  it  was  first  exhibited  in  the  little  gnats,  and  then  continued 
invariable.  The  contest  was  first  intentionally  carried  on  in  a  sphere  to 
which  the  Egyptian  magicians,  as  we  certainly  know  with  reference  to  the 
first  sign,  had  hitherto  shown  their  principal  power.  After  they  had  there 
been  vanquished,  the  scene  was  changed  to  a  sphere,  in  which  they  could 


84  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

not  at  all  further  contend,  and  the  doom,  >vhich  in  this  way  came  upon 
them,  fell  through  them  upon  their  gods. 

The  first  Plague  — the  Water  of  Egxjpt  changed  to  Blood. 

We  turn  now  to  the  second  sign,  Avhich  is  also  the  first  j)lague.  It  con- 
sists in  changing  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  and  the  other  watei-s  of  Kgvpt 
into  blood.  It  appears  from  Joel,  iii.  4,  according  to  which,  the  moon  shall 
be  changed  into  blood,  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  literal  blood 
is  here  meant.  On  the  contrary,  the  change  into  blood  can  properly  only 
have  reference  to  the  blood-red  color;  so  that  the  blood  here  is  the  same 
as  the  water,  red  as  blood,  in  2  Kings,  iii.  22.  The  designation  is  here  ev- 
idently chosen  for  the  sake  of  the  symbolic  character  which  this  plague 
benrs,  as  also  the  water,  red  as  blood,  in  the  passage  referred  to  in  the  book 
of  Kings  has  a  symbolic  significance,  announcing  destruction  to  the  ene- 
mies of  Israel.  To  the  Egyptians  shall  the  reddened  water  be  blood,  re- 
minding them  of  the  innocent  blood  which  they  have  shed,  and  pointing  to 
the  flowing,  guilty  blood  to  be  shed.  In  this  characteristic,  this  plague  is 
coupled  with  the  darkness  Avhich  afterwards  covered  the  whole  land,  as 
both  also  appear  connected  in  Joel,  iii.  4:  "  The  sun  shall  be  turned  into 
darkness,  and  the  moon  into  blood."  In  the  symbolic  colors,  arranged  by 
the  Egyptians,  black  was  the  color  of  death  and  mourning;  for  that  which 
is  base  and  its  author,  the  red  color  was  chosen,  probably  as  the  color  of 
blood. 

This  explanation  of  Hengstenberg  is  very  doubtful  in- 
deed, and  scarcely  compatible  with  the  sacred  narration. 
"What  he  adds,  on  the  Nile,  is  well  Avorth  reading :  — 

The  threat  of  Moses,  and  the  described  inconveniences  which  its  fulfil- 
ment brought  upon  the  Egyptians,  is  foimded  on  the  importance  which 
the  Nile  water  has  for  the  Egyptians,  and  upon  the  enthusiastic  love  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Egypt  for  it.  The  Nile  water  is  almost  the  only  drinkable 
water  in  Egypt;  for  the  water  of  the  few  wells  is  distasteful  and  unwhole- 
some. The  Turks,  according  to  Mascrier,  find  the  water  so  pleasant,  that 
they  eat  salt,  in  order  to  be  able  to  drink  more  of  it.  They  are  accustomed 
to  say,  if  Mohammed  had  drunk  thereof,  he  would  have  asked  immortality 
of  God,  so  that  he  might  always  drink  of  this  water.  If  the  Egyptians 
undertake  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  or  travel  elsewhere,  they  speak  of  noth- 
ing but  the  delight  which  they  shall  experience  Avhen,  on  their  return, 
they  again  drink  of  the  Nile  water,  etc.  It  is  very  justly  said,  after  these 
circumstances  have  been  referred  to,  "  He  who  has  never  understood  any 
thing  of  the  pleasantness  of  the  Nile  Avater,  and  docs  not  know  how  much 
of  it  the  Egyptians  arc  accustomed  to  drink,  will  now  find  in  the  words  of 
Moses, '  The  Egyptians  shall  loathe,'  etc.  —  a  meaning  which  he  has  not 
before  perceived.     The  sense  is,  they  loathe  the  water  which  they  at  other 


EXODUS    IX.  85 

times  prefer  before  all  the  water  in  the  world,  even  that  which  they  have 
previously  longed  for.  They  prefer  to  drink  well  water,  which,  in  their 
countr}',  is  so  unpleasant." 

In  verse  15  it  is  said,  "  Go  to  Pharaoh  in  the  morning:  behold,  he  goeth 
out  to  the  water,  and  meet  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile."  In  like  man- 
ner, in  chap.  viii.  16  (20),  "  Rise  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before 
Pharaoh:  behold,  he  goeth  forth  to  the  water."  Both  passages  are  founded 
on  tlie  divine  honors  which  the  Egyptians  paid  to  the  Nile.  Moses  is  com- 
manded to  meet  Pharaoh,  with  a  commission  from  the  true  God,  whom 
Pharaoh  wickedly  resists,  just  when  he  is  preparing  to  bring  his  daily 
offering  to  his  false  gods.  In  the  first  passage,  this  moment  appears  to  be 
the  more  fitly  chosen,  since  the  threatened  demonstration  of  the  omnipo- 
tence of  Jehovah  is  exhibited  directly  upon  the  false  god.  The  I-gyp- 
tians,  even  in  the  most  ancient  times,  paid  divine  honors  to  the  Nile.  Es- 
pecially was  he  zealously  honored,  according  to  Champollion,  at  Nilopolis, 
where  he  had  a  temple.  Herodotus  mentions  the  priests  of  the  Nile. 
Lucian  says,  "  Its  water  is  a  common  divinity  to  all  of  the  Egyptians." 
The  monuments  bear  witness  to  the  same  eff'ect  as  the  ancient  authors; 
they  indeed  very  particixlarly  represent,  that  even  the  kings  paid  divine 
honors  to  the  Nile.  According  to  Champollion,  there  is,  in  a  chapel  at 
Ghebel  Selseleh  (Silsilis)  a  painting,  of  the  time  of  the  reign  of  Remeses 
II.,  which  exhibits  this  king  "offering  wine  to  the  god  of  the  Nile,  who,  in 
the  hieroglyphic  inscription,  is  called  Hapi  Moou  —  the  life  giving  father 
of  all  existences."  According  to  the  inscription,  this  chapel  is  specially 
dedicated  to  this  god.  Remeses  is  called  in  it,  "  beloved  of  Hapi  Moou  — 
the  father  of  the  gods." 

The  Second  Plague—  The  Frogs. 

The  account  of  the  second  plague,  the  frogs,  furnishes  us  far  less  abun- 
dant spoil  than  that  of  the  first.  It  is  implied  in  the  account  itself,  in 
chap.  viii.  5,  that  the  waters  of  Egypt,  even  in  ordinary  circumstances, 
contain  many  frogs;  and  from  the  nature  of  these  waters,  we  could 
scarcely  imagine  it  to  be  otherwise.  The  statements  of  travellers,  in 
regard  to  this,  are,  however,  very  scanty.  Hasselquist  mentions  frogs 
among  the  Mosaic  plagues,  which  even  now  visit  both  natives  and  foreign- 
ers. According  to  Sonnini,  the  stagnant  waters  about  Rosetta  are  filled 
with  thousands  of  frogs,  which  make  very  much  noise. 

The   Third  Plague  — the  'D^'J   Gnats. 

As  respects  the  third  plague,  it  is  now  generally  agreed,  that  by  ^jp^^ 
Mnnim,  gnats  are  meant.  These  are,  even  in  ordinary  j'ears,  very  trouble- 
some in  Egypt.  Herodotus,  as  early  as  his  time,  speaks  of  the  great 
trouble  which  the  gnats  cause,  and  of  the  precautions  which  are  taken  to 
guard  against  them.  Hartmann  observes :  "  All  travellers  speak  of  these 
gnats  as  an  ordinary  plague  of  the  country.    In  cool  weather  they  are  es- 

8 


86  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

pecially  bold.  They  pursue  the  men,  prevent  them  from  eating,  disturb 
their  sleep,  and  cause  swellings  which  are  sensibly  painful."  What  Son- 
nini  says  of  these  gnats,  in  his  account  of  his  abode  in  Rosetta,  is  of  pecu- 
liar interest:  "  It  is  asserted  that  the  multitude  of  gnats  with  which  the 
streets  and  the  inside  of  the  houses  were  then  filled,  owe  their  origin  to 
this  employment  (the  drying  of  rice  about  the  end  of  October).  Indeed, 
there  are  fewer  of  them  at  other  times.  After  the  rice  harvest,  they  go 
forth  in  multitudes  from  the  overflowing  fields,  in  which  the  preceding 
generation  laid  their  eggs.  They  come  to  trouble  men;  they  make 
"wounds,  in  order  to  suck  their  blood,  not  less  burning  than  those  of  the 
Maringonins  of  South  America."  These  passages  show  that  the  time  of 
the  extraordinary  public  calamities  corresponded  nearly  to  that  of  the 
extraordinary  plague.  The  first  plague,  the  changing  of  water  to  blood, 
transfers  us  to  the  period  of  the  increase  of  the  Nile,  the  gnats  begin  to 
multiply  at  the  end  of  the  inundation. 

The  Seventh  Plague  —  (he  Temjoest. 

The  seventh  plague  was  a  severe  tempest,  attended  with  hail  and  rain. 
In  the  narrative  itself — chap.  ix.  18-24  —  it  is  said  that  the  phenomenon 
v.'as  unexampled  only  in  degree ;  and  it  is  implied  that  it  is  not  uncommon 
in  Egypt  in  a  milder  form.  Other  accounts  agree  with  ours  in  showing, 
that  tempests  in  Egypt  are  not  unfrcquent,  and  that  they  in  general  differ 
from  the  one  under  consideration  only  in  severity.  These  notices  are 
explanatory  of  our  account  insomuch  as  they  i-epresent  that  tempests  are 
most  abundant  just  at  the  time  in  which,  according  to  verse  31,  the  tem- 
pest here  described  occurred.  The  accounts  of  ancient  travellers  con- 
cerning tempests  in  Egypt,  in  January  and  ]\Iarch,  are  found  carefully 
collected  in  Nordmej'-er,  and  especially  in  Hartmann.  Coutelle  says, 
"  Natural  phenomena  succeed  each  other  in  this  land  with  a  constant  uni- 
formity. The  same  winds  return  regularly  at  the  same  time,  and  continue 
equally  long.  In  the  Delta  it  does  not  rain  at  all  in  summer,  and  scarcely 
at  all  in  winter.  We  have  very  seldom  seen  it  rain  in  Cairo.  Rain  in  Upper 
Egypt  is  a  wonder.  A  higher  temperature  than  that  designated  below,  a 
harder  frost,  and  more  copious  rains,  are  extraordinary  occurrences." 
Jomard,  upon  the  climate  of  Cairo,  says,  "  Rain  fiills  by  no  means  so  sel- 
dom in  Egypt  as  is  commonly  asserted.  First  of  all.  Lower  Egypt  must 
evidently'  be  excepted,  as  it  covers  a  much  more  extended  surface  than  the 
rest  of  the  country,  and  lies  where  its  greater  or  less  proximity  to  the  sea 
produces  a  more  variable  climate  than  that  of  the  Said.  All  phenomena, 
with  the  exception  of  hail  and  snow,  follow  there  as  in  other  counti-ies 
•which  are  -washed  hy  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  I  have  several  times  seen 
even  hail  at  Alexandria.  At  Cairo  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  begins  to 
be  more  settled,  and  in  Upper  Egypt  it  is  almost  invariable." 


CHAPTER    X. 

PIIAEAOh's  HEAliT  STILL  HARDENED.  ANOTHER  APPEAL  TO  PHA- 
RAOH, THE  CONFESSION  OF  PHARAOH.  THE  LOCUST  PLAGUE. 
THE    PLAGUE    OF   DARKNESS.      PHARAOH'S    TERMS. 

"We  now  approach  the  last  of  the  plagues  or  judgments 
that  were  dealt  upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  his  subjects  and 
his  kingdom,  because  of  his  own  wilful  refusal  to  let  the 
children  of  Israel  go.  I  explained  in  the  course  of  previ- 
ous expository  remarks  on  the  chapters  that  precede  this, 
that  "  the  Lord  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart,"  is  an  expression 
obviously  intended  to  denote  that  the  measures  which  God 
pursued  were  productive,  not  of  a  softening  and  subduing, 
but  of  a  hardening  effect  upon  the  mind,  heart,  and  con- 
science of  Pharaoh  ;  that  God  was  the  occasion  of  his  heart 
being  hardened,  not  the  cause  of  it ;  that  he  did  it  through 
the  means  that  he  employed  to  convince  him.  Just  as  the* 
Gospel  preached  unto  us  is,  if  not  the  savor  of  life,  the 
savor  of  death  ;  and  yet  the  God  of  the  Gospel  is  not  to  be 
blamed  for  these  its  necessary  effects.  You  will  perceive 
that  it  is  added  twice  in  this  chapter  after  the  words,  "  The 
Lord  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  he  would  not  let  them 
go."  It  is  not  said  that  he  could  not,  which  would  have 
been  the  result,  if  God  by  omnipotent  power  had  prevented 
him ;  but  it  is  said  that  he  would  not,  which  shows  that  the 
resistance  to  the  will  of  God  was  his  own  volition,  and  that 
alone. 

God  says  to  Moses,  evidently  bearing  and  forbearing  with 


88  scuirruuE  rkadixgs. 

Pharaoh,  and  "witli  a  desire  that  the  means  employed  should 
be  productive  of  their  just  and  legitimate  effect,  "  Go  into 
Pharaoh's  presence,  and  tell  him  to  let  my  people  go,  in 
order  tliat  they  may  serve  me  in  the  way  that  you  pointed 
out  in  the  commencement  of  your  intercourse  with  him." 
Moses  and  Aaron  then  came  unto  Pharaoh  —  Moses  mighty 
in  action,  Aaron  eloquent  in  words  —  the  one  the  gifted 
orator,  the  other  the  devoted,  persistent,  and  holy  servant  — 
and  they  said,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
How  long  wilt  thou  refuse  to  humble  thyself  before  me  ?  " 
This  reminds  us  of  the  just  and  fair  interpretation  that  I 
presented  of  the  passage  in  the  previous  chapter,  where 
Pharaoh  called  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  said,  "  I  have  sinned 
this  time ;  the  Lord  is  righteous,  and  I  and  my  people  are 
wicked."  I  showed  you  that  there  were  certain  features  in 
that  confession  almost  significant  of  genuine  repentance ; 
but  I  noticed  that  the  element  of  humility,  which  is  always 
the  necessary  accompaniment  of  true  repentance,  seemed 
then  and  there  to  have  been  wanting.  Now  here  we  find 
the  servants  of  God  expressly  declaring  that  he  had  refused 
to  humble  himself.  No  confession  with  the  lip  is  enough 
without  lowliness  and  humility  of  heart.  No  prayer  can 
rise  with  acceptance  from  a  proud  heart ;  and  what  Pharaoh 
needed  was  not  the  removal  of  the  judgment,  was  not  simply 
a  sense  of  danger,  or  of  suffering,  or  even  of  death,  but 
that  he  should  humble  himself,  confess  his  sin,  acknowledge 
the  sovereignty  of  God,  and  submit  to  his  will,  and  walk  in 
his  ways,  as  he  should  be  pleased  to  prescribe.  Tliis  he 
would  not  do  ;  and  therefore  the  servants  of  God  were  told, 
and  told  him,  that  there  would  be  brought  upon  him  another 
judgment,  tliat  would  finish  what  the  hail  had  begun  ;  that 
every  green  tree,  and  herb,  and  fruit,  and  flower,  that  the 
hail,  the  lightning,  and  the  tempest  had  spared,  would  be 
now  consumed  by  devastating  inroads  of  locusts,  which 
should  spread   over   the    land.     1  have  read  of  travellers 


EXODUS   X.  89 

who  have  witnessed  there  the  inroads  of  immense  bodies 
of  locusts.  They  have  noticed  the  very  air  to  be  darkened 
by  the  immense  mass,  or  locust  cloud,  and  they  have  heard 
even  the  sound  of  their  wings,  as  they  approached  the 
scene  of  devastation.  They  have  seen  them  cover  the 
whole  earth  round  about  for  a  great  many  yards,  one,  two, 
or  even  three  inches  thick;  so  that  the  horses  could  not 
pursue  their  route  without  treading  upon  them ;  and  they 
have  remarked  that  such  a  plague,  if  universal,  would  be 
one  of  the  greatest  inflictions  that  could  be  suffered  by  any 
land.  Hence  the  allusion  in  Scripture,  with  reference  to 
devastating  armies,  and  the  incursions  of  lawless  conquerors, 
that  what  was  the  garden  of  Eden  before  is  made  a  wilder- 
ness and  a  desert  behind. 

This  plague  evidently  made  a  very  deep  impression  upon 
Pharaoh,  and  he  was  disposed  to  relent  and  give  way  a 
little ;  for,  whilst  it  is  said  that  God  hardened  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh,  it  is  quite  obvious  that  after  each  plague  (and  the 
word  "  plague,"  whether  derived  from  the  Greek,  which  is 
its  origin,  or  the  Latin,  means  a  blow),  he  evidently  relented 
a  little;  and  w^as  more  anxious  for  terms,  and,  if  it  could 
only  be  done  compatibly  with  his  wounded  pride,  to  come  to 
a  close  of  this  very  serious  and  severe  treatment.  lie  now 
proposed  that  the  growm  up  men  should  only  go  away,  and 
leave  the  mothers  and  their  children  behind ;  because  he  felt 
that  when  the  old  slaves  were  thus  got  rid  of,  that  would  not 
be  a  very  great  loss,  since  the  young  slaves  would  take  their 
place,  and  that  thus  his  treasury  would  not  be  exhausted  by 
their  secession.  He  therefore  tried  to  come  to  terms  with 
Moses  and  Aaron,  which  terms,  like  those  of  an  avaricious 
miser,  were  the  most  satisfactory  and  profitable  to  himself. 
When  he  saw  the  frightful  visitation  of  the  locusts  —  all 
that  was  green  devoured,  all  that  was  beautiful  blasted,  the 
whole  land  threatened  with  a  plague  that  would  depopulate 
it  by  destroying  all  the  grass  eaten  by  the  cattle,  and  every 


90  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

herb  for  the  service  of  man  —  he  rushed  to  Moses  and 
Aaron,  and  said,  "  I  have  sinned  "  —  the  old  story  —  the 
mere  expression  of  the  lip,  and  not  the  feeling  of  the 
heart  —  "against  the  Lord  your  God,"  as  if  he  impHed, 
"  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  he  is  not  my  God,  and  I  do 
not  owe  allegiance  to  him ;  yet  I  see  that  he  is  your  God, 
and  that  he  has  great  power."  "  Now  therefore  forgive,  I 
pray  thee,  my  sin  only  this  once."  He  now  almost  becomes 
a  Romanist;  for  he  asks  forgiveness  of  Aaron  the  priest, 
instead  of  seeking  it  where  it  could  then,  and  can  now  be 
found,  from  the  God  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 

Then  "  Moses  entreated  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord  turned 
a  mighty  strong  w^est  wind,  which  took  away  the  locusts, 
and  cast  them  into  the  Red  Sea.  But  the  Lord  hardened 
Pharaoh's  heart,"  that  is,  this  blow,  instead  of  subduing 
Pharaoh,  ended  in  his  being  hardened,  "  so  that  he  would 
not,"  not  could  not,  "  let  the  children  of  Israel  go." 

The  Lord  then  told  his  servants  to  stretch  out  their  hands, 
and  darkness  should  overspread  the  land;  and  to  show 
Pharaoh  that  this  was  miraculous  and  had  a  moral  signifi- 
cance, as  well  as  a  physical  calamity,  there  was  light  in  all 
the  dwellings  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Now  this  could  not 
be  a  mist,  or  a  fog,  or  a  very  heavy  and  dense  cloud ;  it 
must  have  been  some  miraculous  distribution  of  the  light  in 
one  place,  and  an  equally  miraculous  arrest  or  prevention 
of  it  in  another  place,  by  which  it  was  evidently  intended 
that  Pharaoh  should  see  that  moral  excellence  has  light 
irradiating  it  with  its  splendor,  and  that  wickedness  has 
darkness  as  the  congenial  element  for  it  to  live  in ;  and  that 
he  might  thus  learn  that  the  God  of  Israel  was  not  a  God 
displaying  mere  freaks  of  omnipotent  power,  but  a  God  dis^ 
tinguishing  now,  as  he  will  distinguish  at  the  judgment-seat, 
between  them  who  are  the  lights  of  the  world,  and  them 
who  are  the  children  of  night,  and  love  the  night,  because 
their  deeds  are  evil. 


EXODUS    X.  91 

Pharaoli  then  tried  to  come  to  terms  again,  and  he  said, 
*'  Go  ye,  serve  the  Lord ;  only  let  your  flocks  and  your 
herds  be  stayed ;  let  your  little  ones  also  go  with  you."  He 
gives  •vvay  one  notch ;  he  comes  down  one  peg,  as  it  were ; 
for  instead  of  saying,  "Your  little  ones  shall  not  go  with 
you,"  he  now  says,  "I  find  I  cannot  hold  out  any  more;" 
but  still  he  is  determined  to  hold  all  that  he  can,  and  to  give 
up  only  in  obedience  to  irresistible  force  Avhat  he  would  like 
to  retain ;  and  he  now  comes  to  the  point  of  saying  that  all, 
fathers,  mothers,  and  children  shall  go,  "  only  let  your  flocks 
and  your  herds  be  stayed."  I  want  only  a  few  of  your 
cattle  left,  so  that  I  may  have  something  to  propitiate  my 
own  pride,  and  that  will  make  me  look  as  if  I  had  had  a 
hard  fight,  and  had  not  altogether  lost  the  day,  with  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews.  Let  me  keep  your  cattle.  But 
Moses  acted  just  as  the  servant  of  God  should  ever  act. 
What  is  right  do ;  what  is  wrong  do  not ;  but  whenever 
men  attempt  in  religion,  politics,  or  any  thing  else,  to  make 
a  compromise  between  truth  and  error,  between  duty  and 
expediency,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  disastrous  issue.  There- 
fore, the  servants  of  God  said,  "No.  Fathers,  mothers, 
children,  and  cattle  shall  go  out  of  this  land,  and  serve  God. 
We  will  have  all,  or  none.  It  is  not  our  asking,  but  God's 
command."  Concede  a  prejudice,  but  never  compromise  a 
duty.  Give  up  your  own  likings,  profits,  or  preference,  but 
never  dare  to  surrender  the  sacred  obligations  of  everlasting 
truth,  or  to  compromise  one  jot  or  atom  of  what  conscience 
enlightened  by  the  Bible  tells  you  to  be  duty  to  God. 

But  the  result  was  that  all  this  hardened  his  heart  more 
and  more ;  and  then  we  have  the  last  solemn  parting,  which 
introduces  us  to  that  most  impressive  and  suggestive  plague 
that  followed  —  the  slaughter  of  the  first-born  of  Pharaoli, 
and  the  sparing  of  the  first-born  of  Israel,  "  Pharaoh  said 
unto  him.  Get  thee  from  me,  take  heed  to  thyself,  see  my 
face  no  more"  —  he  evidently  lost  his  temper,  and  got  ex- 


92  SCRirXUKE    READINGS. 

asperated,  and  uttered  this  speech,  which  was  thought  a 
great  degradation  by  a  king  to  his  subjects  in  those  times  ; 
"  for  in  that  day  thou  seest  my  face  thou  shalt  die."  Moses, 
with  all  the  grandeur  of  a  prophet,  with  all  the  dignity  that 
duty  ever  inspires,  said,  ''  Thou  hast  spoken  well,  I  will  see 
thy  face  again  no  more." 


CHAPTER    XI. 

EXPLANATIONS.      THE  PROPHECY  OP  THE    LAST  PLAGUE.      THE  FAIL- 
URE  OF   ALL   IN    SOFTENING    THE    HEART    OF   PHARAOH. 

You  will  perceive  at  once  that  the  first  three  verses  of 
the  chapter  I  have  read,  are,  not  an  interpolation  by  a  mere 
human  authority,  but  an  interpolation  or  a  parenthesis  clearly 
and  obviously  relating  to  something  that  had  been  said  before, 
and  to  a  commission  that  Moses  had  received  from  God  on 
a  previous  occasion  ;  and  you  will  notice  that  the  4th  verse 
of  this  chapter,  after  making  allowance  for  the  parenthesis 
which  recapitulates  what  evidently  had  been  recorded  before, 
ought  strictly  to  come  after  the  29th  verse  of  the  previous 
chapter ;  because  in  the  28th  verse  of  that  chapter,  "  Pha- 
raoh said  unto  Moses,  Get  thee  from  me,  take  heed  to  thy- 
self, see  my  face  no  more ;  for  in  that  day  thou  seest  my 
face  thou  shalt  die.  And  Moses  said,  Thou  hast  spoken  well, 
I  will  see  thy  face  again  no  more."  If  this  chapter  which  we 
have  read  this  morning  were  not  connected  with  the  previous 
chapter,  and  not  evidently  a  transaction  that  took  place  at 
the  very  same  interview,  it  would  be  contradictory  to  the 
speech  of  Moses,  "  I  will  see  thy  face  again  no  more." 
Evidently  after  he  had  uttered  that  saying,  he  continued  the 
narrative  as  it  begins  in  the  4th  verse  of  this  11th  chapter, 
while  he  still  stood  before  Pharaoh.  After  having  said,  "  I 
will  see  thy  face  again  no  more,"  that  is,  "  This  shall  be  the 
last  interview,"  in  order  that  that  interview  might  not  be 
spent,  if  possible,  unprofitably,  he  announces  the  last  and 
most  consuming  judgment  that  God  would  pour  out  upon 


94  SCKirTURE    HEADINGS. 

him  and  upon  his  people,  if  he  would  not  let  the  children  of 
Israel  go.  And  therefore,  the  4th  verse  of  the  11th  chapter 
is  the  continuation  of  Moses'  statement  at  the  very  same 
interview  with  Pharaoh,  at  which  he  said,  "  I  will  see  thy 
face  again  no  more."  One  proof  of  this  is,  that  the  opening 
words  of  the  first  verse  of  this  chapter  might  be  rendered 
in  the  preterpluperfect  tense,  "  And  the  Lord  had  said  unto 
Moses,  Yet  will  I  bring  one  plague  more  upon  Pharaoh." 
It  is  thus  evident  that  these  three  verses  are  divinely  inter- 
polated in  order  to  give  a  full  account  of  the  judgments  pro- 
nounced upon  Pharaoh. 

Having  thus  then  seen  the  connection,  let  us  notice  that 
after  all  the  plagues  had  fallen,  and  after  each  had  rebounded 
from  Pharaoh's  heart  like  seeds  from  the  hard  pavement, 
like  hail  upon  the  flinty  rock,  God  said,  "  I  will  add  one 
more  judgment,  that  will  have  its  effect,  not  indeed  in  soften- 
ing his  heart,  but  in  emancipating  my  chosen  heritage  with 
a  high  hand,  and  an  outstretched  arm." 

There  is  something  very  striking  in  the  apparent  similarity 
of  the  judgments  denounced  upon  Pharaoh,  to  the  plagues 
given  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  in  the  inflictions  which  God  is 
stated  to  bring  upon  a  disobedient  people  in  many  parts  of 
Scripture.  For  instance,  in  the  book  of  Amos,  iv.  6-12, 
God  says,  in  dealing  with  a  people  who  had  transgressed  his 
laws,  "  1  have  given  you  cleanness  of  teeth  in  all  your 
cities,  and  want  of  bread  in  all  your  places  :  yet  have  ye 
not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  And  also  I  have 
withliolden  the  rain  from  you,  when  there  were  yet  three 
months  to  the  harvest:  and  I  caused  it  to  rain  upon  one 
city,  and  caused  it  not  to  rain  upon  another  city  :  one  piece 
was  rained  upon,  and  the  piece  whereupon  it  rained  not 
withered.  So  two  or  three  cities  wandered  unto  one  city,  to 
drink  water ;  but  they  were  not  satisfied :  yet  have  ye  not 
returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  I  have  smitten  you  with 
blasting  and  mildew  :  when  your  gardens  and  your  vine- 


EXODUS   XI.  95 

yards  and  your  fig-trees  and  your  olive-trees  inereased,  the 
pulmerworm  devoured  them  :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto 
me,  saith  the  Lord.  I  have  sent  among  you  the  pestilence 
after  the  manner  of  Egypt :  your  young  men  have  I  slain 
Avitli  the  sword,  and  have  taken  away  your  horses  ;  and  I 
have  made  the  stink  of  your  camps  to  come  up  unto  your 
nostrils  :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
I  have  overthrown  some  of  you,  as  God  overthrew  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  ye  were  as  a  firebrand  plucked  out  of 
the  burning  :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the 
Lord.  Therefore  thus  will  I  do  unto  thee,  O  Israel :  and 
because  I  wall  do  this  unto  thee,  prepare  to  meet  thy  God, 
O  Israel ; "  death  being  the  crowning  stroke  in  the  series  of 
plagues  denounced  upon  a  guilty  people.  So  in  the  plagues 
denounced  upon  Pharaoh  we  find  that  the  last  is  a  fatal  one 
—  it  conies  and  smites  the  first-born,  from  the  monarch  upon 
the  throne  to  the  maid-servant  who  was  grinding  corn  behind 
the  mill. 

God  says  in  the  2d  verse,  "  Speak  now  in  the  ears  of 
the  people,  and  let  every  man  borrow  of  his  neighbor,  and 
every  w^oman  of  her  neighbor,  jewels  of  silver,  and  jewels 
of  gold."  I  explained  in  a  previous  chapter  that  the  word 
here  translated  "  borrow,"  whilst  it  is  so  translated  in  one, 
or  at  most,  two  other  passages  in  Scripture,  is  generally  and 
justly  translated  "ask."  For  instance,  the  same  Hebrew 
w^ord  is  used  in  the  2d  Psalm,  where  God  the  Father  speaks 
to  the  Messiah,  and  says,  "Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee 
the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance  ;  "  and  the  word  rendered 
here  "  borrow,"  ought  to  be  translated  as  in  the  2d  Psalm, 
"  ask." 

Then  you  will  notice  that  when  they  asked  for  these  jew- 
els, the  Israelites  had  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  Egyptians. 
We  read  in  the  previous  chapter  that  Pharaoh  pursued  a 
despotic  course,  and  that  some  of  his  ministers,  courtiers, 
and  people,  remonstrated  with  him ;  but  his  heart  was  not 


96  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

only  liardened  against  the  administrations  of  God,  but  it 
was  also  impenetrable  to  the  sound  suggestions  of  his  min- 
isters and  people.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  Pharaoh's  ca- 
reer in  this  matter  was  not  a  popular  one,  and  that  some  of 
the  ICgyptians  did  pity  the  Israelites :  for  "  the  Lord  gave  the 
people  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians  ; "  and  the  Egyp- 
tians, therefore,  when  the  Israelites  asked  them  for  jewels  of 
gold  and  silver,  most  abundant  in  that  country,  freely  gave 
them,  partly,  it  may  be,  because  they  pitied  them,  and  partly 
because  they  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  them  at  any  price.  Jo- 
sephus  says  that  the  Egyptians  honored  the  Israelites  with 
gifts  —  some  in  order  to  get  them  to  depart  quickly,  and 
others  on  account  of  neighborhood  and  good  friendship. 
So  that  the  historian,  Josephus,  gives  what  would  sug- 
gest itself  to  any  one  as  the  right  reason  for  the  Egyp- 
tians giving  up  their  property,  in  order  to  oblige  the  Is- 
raelites. 

Then  this  last  judgment,  which  is  strictly  detailed  in  the 
next  chapter,  for  this  chapter  is  the  prophecy,  the  next  the 
accomplishment  of  it,  the  one  the  voice,  the  other  the  echo, 
was  evidently  the  most  awful  and  distressing  one  that  fell 
upon  the  whole  population  of  the  land.  If  the  whole  pop- 
ulation had  been  swept  away  by  some  desolating  flood,  or 
by  the  earth  opening  to  receive  them,  there  would  have 
been  none  left  to  mourn  the  catastrophe  ;  but  when  the  first- 
born child,  the  hope  of  the  house,  the  nearest  and  dearest  to 
the  heart,  and  in  whom  the  whole  progress  and  expansion  of 
the  house,  whatever  was  its  position  or  its  rank,  was  centred 
—  when  that  first-born  one  was  smitten,  from  the  first-born 
child  of  Pharaoh  on  the  throne  to  the  first-born  child  of  the 
humblest  menial  in  his  realm,  in  a  night,  the  universality  of 
this  stroke,  and  its  occurring  at  midnight,  when  each  would 
be  awakened  by  the  calamity  that  took  place,  and  the  neigh- 
bor in  one  house  would  rush  out  to  seek  sympathy  from 
her  next  neighbor,  and  meet  her  next  neighbor  coming  to 


EXODUS    XI.  97 

seek  sympathy  from  her.  I  say,  the  universality  of  this 
would  make  an  impression  upon  the  whole  popuhilion 
of  Egypt  that  none  of  the  other  plagues  could  effect ; 
and  it  is  therefore  alluded  to  more  frequently  tliroughout 
the  Sacred  Volume  than  any  other  plague  recorded  in  this 
Book. 

But  whilst  this  took  place  with  reference  to  the  Egyp- 
tians, God's  people  were  protected  in  perfect  safety  :  for  we 
read,  "  There  shall  be  a  great  cry  throughout  all  the  land  of 
Egypt,  such  as  there  was  none  like  it,  nor  shall  be  like  it 
any  more  ;  but  against  any  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
not  a  dog  move  his  tongue"  —  even  the  brute  creation 
should  reverently  look  on  —  "that  ye  may  know  and  see,  by 
an  irresistible  fact,  as  painful  as  it  is  irresistible,  that  God 
puts  a  difference  between  them  that  fear  him,  and  them  that 
fear  him  not." 

Blood  sprinkled  on  the  lintel  alone  was  the  safety  of 
Israel.  Not  deeds  —  not  race  —  not  any  thing  inside 
the  house  —  but  wholly  the  blood  outside  was  safety. 
There  might  be  fears  within,  but  those  did  not  weaken 
the  protection.  The  blood  of  Jesus  is  our  safety — and  it 
alone. 

Moses  then  repeats  w^hat  God  had  said  to  him,  —  "All 
these  thy  servants  shall  come  down  unto  me,"  that  is,  unto 
God,  for  Moses  is  only  the  spokesman,  "and  bow  down 
themselves  unto  me,"  saying,  "  Get  thee  out,  and  all  the  peo- 
ple that  follow  thee"  —  Moses  is  alluded  to  there  —  "and 
after  that  I  will  go  out."  And  then  it  is  said,  "  Moses  went 
out  from  Pharaoh  in  a  great  anger."  Now  on  first  reading 
this,  it  would  seem  as  if  Moses  had  got  into  a  passion  un- 
called for  by  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  unwarrant- 
able in  one  who  professed  to  be  the  immediate  servant  and 
messenger  of  the  Most  High.  And  yet,  if  it  was  so,  there 
is  no  sin  in  anger.  I  believe  man  was  made  to  be  angry, 
as  much  as  he  was  made  to  smile.     There  is  no  more  sin  in 

9 


98  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

being  angiy  than  there  is  in  being  hungry.  The  Apostle 
himself  says,  "  Let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your  wrath." 
*'  Be  angry,  and  sin  not."  Christianity  does  not  profess  to 
root  out  human  nature  ;  it  only  undertakes  to  sanctify,  ele- 
vate, ennoble,  and  improve  human  nature.  The  risk  of  sin 
in  anger  is  in  its  degenerating  into  malice,  when  it  becomes 
sin.  AVe  have  a  striking  evidence  of  sinless  anger  in  the 
chapter  we  shall  read  this  evening,  (Mark,  iii.),  where  it  is 
said,  "  When  Jesus  had  looked  round  about  on  them  with 
anger,"  but  it  is  beautifully  added,  "  being  grieved  for  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts ; "  as  if  His  anger  was  mainly  sor- 
row or  grief  at  the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  Moses  had 
perhaps  more  of  the  passion  of  human  nature  than  the  sor- 
row of  a  Christian,  and  he  may  have  felt,  as  he  once  spake, 
unadvisedly  and  sinfidly,  for  who  is  he  that  sinneth  not  ? 
Yet  still  there  was  enough  in  the  conduct  of  Pharaoh,  and 
-in  the  maltreatment  of  the  children  of  Israel,  to  arouse  the 
temper  of  any  man ;  and  it  needed  the  grace  of  God 
mingled  with  that  temper  or  passion  to  make  it  as  much 
pity  for  a  misguided  king,  as  indignation  at  his  atrocious 
tyranny. 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Pharaoh  shall  not 
hearken  unto  you."  Lest  you  should  expect  too  much  from 
this  last  plague,  I  w^arn  you  that  Pharaoh  will  not  hearken 
unto  you.  Now  this  seems  a  sort  of  inexplicable  inconsis- 
tency. Why  should  God  bid  Moses  to  do  things  to  persuade 
Pliaraoh,  when  he  told  Moses  all  throughout  that  he  would 
not  listen  ?  The  answer  is,  it  is  ours  to  do  the  duties  that 
are  assigned  by  the  Most  High ;  it  is  God's  to  determine 
the  results.  If  every  soldier  who  marched  into  the  field  of 
battle  were  to  say,  "  What  is  the  use  of  opposing  that 
mighty  force  ?  I  know  we  shall  fail,"  there  would  be  speedy 
defeat.  It  is  by  each  feeling  that  there  is  a*  duty  assigned, 
and  having  confidence  in  him  who  assigns  it,  that  any  work 
will  be  most  efficiently  done.     God  determines  results  ;  it  is 


EXODUS    XT.  99 

ours  to  use  the  means.  God  metes  out  tlie  harvest ;  it  is 
ours  to  sow  the  seed.  Moses  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
effect  of  what  he  wrought :  he  had  only  to  do  what  was 
bidden,  and  to  commit  the  result  to  Ilim  who  judgeth  right- 
eously. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

PHARAOH  RELENTS.  CHILDREN  SUFFER  FOR  PARENTS  A  FACT  IN 
HISTORY.  TRANSUBSTANTIATION.  THE  SACRIFICE  AND  FEAST. 
TRAINING    AND    TEACHING    CHILDREN.      BORROWING    JEWELS. 

We  have  seen  in  the  course  of  successive  chapters  of  the 
truly  interesting  Book  we  have  been  reading,  that  one 
plague  after  another  fell  with  consuming  vengeance  upon 
Pharaoh  and  those  who  were  associated  with  him ;  that  he 
relented  occasionally  for  a  moment,  but  only  to  return  to  his 
inveterate  obstinacy  more  than  ever.  At  last  a  plague 
comes,  so  desolating  in  its  nature,  so  sudden,  and  from  the 
midnight  in  wliich  it  was  dealt,  so  mysterious,  that  it  at  once 
relaxes  all  the  feelings  of  Pharaoh,  dissipates  all  the  obdu- 
racy he  had  shown,  and  makes  him  too  thankfid  to  get  rid 
of  a  people  in  the  midst  of  Egypt,  about  wliose  profitable- 
ness to  his  realm  he  must  think  no  more,  and  about  getting 
rid  of  whom  in  the  quickest  manner,  and  with  the  least  mis- 
chief to  himself,  must  be  now  his  only  consideration. 

It  has  been  often  said.  Does  it  not  seem  almost  an  unjust, 
not  to  say  were  it  not  irreligious,  a  cruel  thing,  that  because 
of  the  obstinacy  of  the  monarch  the  poor  babes,  some  of 
whom  were  sittting  on  their  mother's  knee,  and  others  hav^- 
ing  readied  no  more  years  than  boyhood,  should  all  be 
smitten  with  one  dread  stroke?  It  is  only  anotlier  page  of 
God's  providential  dealings  witli  mankind.  Even  the  heathen 
could  say,  "The  king  sins,  and  the  Greeks  are  punished;" 
and  we  find,  when  the  curtain  is  lifted  in  the  sacred  Volume, 


EXODUS     XII.  101 

that  national  sins  committed  by  national  rulers  arc  visited, 
not  only  upon  them,  but  also  upon  the  people.  It  may  be 
unjust  in  the  estimate  of  some ;  I  believe  it  to  be  just,  be- 
cause it  is  the  doing  of  God ;  but  we  are  sure  that  if  we 
cannot  see  the  justice  of  the  procedure,  it  is  not  because 
God  is  unrighteous,  but  because  we  are  so  blind.  At  all 
events,  it  is  not  simply  a  revelation  in  God's  Word,  but  it  is 
a  fact  illustrated  in  the  history  of  every  nation  upon  earth. 
Read  the  history  of  man,  and  there  you  have  just  the  echo 
of  the  Word  and  the  prophecies  of  God.  It  is  not  a  de- 
claration of  a  principle  peculiar  to  Christianity,  but  the 
announcement  of  a  fact  embodied  in  the  history  of  every 
nation  whose  annals  are  accessible  to  us.  And  it  is,  per- 
haps, a  more  merciful  law  than  some  imagine.  It  only 
makes  the  responsibility  of  the  parent  or  ruler  more  solemn, 
and  is  fitted  to  make  the  sense  of  that  responsibility  deeper, 
greater,  and  more  lasting. 

We  read  in  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  that  this 
event  was  so  memorable,  that  the  very  current  and  order  of 
the  year  was  to  be  changed  in  consequence.  The  Jewish 
year  began  before  in  September  and  October ;  it  is  now  to 
begin  in  the  months  of  March  and  April.  God  says  that 
the  last  half  of  March  and  the  first  half  of  April  shall  be 
the  commencement  of  the  Jewish  year. 

The  provision  here  made  was  that  the  Israelites  and 
whosoever  would,  should  take  a  lamb,  that  lamb  being  typi- 
cal and  significant  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  w^orld :  that  lamb  they  were  to  kill,  and  sprinkle  its 
blood  upon  the  lintel,  and  wherever  the  destroying  angel 
saw  this,  from  that  house  he  should  reverently  retire,  hold- 
ing it  and  its  inmates  safe  and  sacred  things.  This  was  not 
that  God  required  blood  sprinkled  on  the  lintel  to  let  his 
messenger  know  who  were  his  people,  and  who  were  Pha- 
raoh's, but  it  was  to  be  a  typical  and  significant  rite.  While 
it  answered  the  great  purpose  of  distinction  for  the  day,  it 
9* 


102  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  to  endure  as  a  lasting  and  expressive  lesson  book  incul- 
cating a  great  truth,  until  the  fulness  of  the  times  should 
come,  when  the  Passover,  like  a  dim  morning  star,  should 
be  merged  in  the  splendor  of  the  rising  and  increasing  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  fears  and 
terror  of  the  inmates  weakened  their  comfort  but  not  their 
safety!  The  blood  on  the  lintel  alone  was  safety.  We  may 
have  doubts  and  fears,  but  these  do  not  dilute  the  efficacy  of 
Christ's  blood.  Not  the  strength  of  our  faith,  but  the  effi- 
cacy of  his  blood,  is  our  safety. 

There  is  one  fact  about  this  w^hich  is  very  striking,  and 
which  has  not  been  noticed  with  the  usual  accuracy  of  our 
translators.  It  is  in  the  26th  verse,  where  it  is  said,  "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  your  children  shall  say  unto  you, 
What  mean  ye  by  this  service?"  Now  in  the  Hebrew 
original  in  this  place  there  is  no  word  for  "  mean  ; "  and 
this  verse  is,  literally  translated,  "  What  by  this  service  ?  " 
or  "  What  is  this  service  ?  "  And  the  answ^er  that  shall  be 
given  is,  "  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  passover."  Now 
have  you  not  in  this  passage,  the  meaning  of  which  our 
translators  thoroughly  appreciated,  though  they  have  not 
put  the  word  "  mean  "  in  italics,  as  they  usually  do  when 
they  add  expletives  —  have  you  not  here  the  word  "is" 
used  in  the  sense  of  "represent?"  It  is  plain  that  the 
original  language  is  "  is,"  and  the  answer  is,  "  It  is  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Lord's  passover ; "  but  yet  you  see  clearly  that 
the  idea  is,  "What  mean  ye  by  this  service?"  and  natu- 
rally the  answer  is  given,  "It  means  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Lord's  passover."  Now  then,  transfer  that  idea  to  the 
words  of  our  Blessed  Lord,  when  he  took  bread,  and  after 
he  had  blessed  it,  he  brake  it,  and  the  institution  of  the  sup- 
per exactly  corresponds  with  this,  and  said,  "  This  is  my 
body."  He  meant  clearly,  "This  means  my  body;"  and 
again,  "This  cup  is  the  new  testament,"  he  meant,  "  This 
represents  or  signifies  the  new  testament."     If  you  ask  for 


EXODUS   XII.  103 

the  analogy  that  shows  it,  you  have  it  here  in  this  chapter. 
It  never  could  be  supposed  by  an  Israelite  that  when  the 
father  said  to  the  child,  "  This  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's 
passover,"  that  he  meant  to  convey  the  idea  that  roasted 
flesh  was  transubstantiated  into  a  destroying  angel  passing 
through  Egypt,  smiting  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh,  and  spar- 
ing the  first-born  of  Israel.  The  child  would  never  dream 
of  such  a  thing :  it  was  left  for  the  schoolmen  of  the  middle 
ages,  and  even  for  popes,  councils,  and  canons,  to  suppose 
such  things.  The  Israelites  must  have  understood  "This 
is,"  to  imply  "  This  means  ;  "  just  as  it  is  said,  "  The  seven 
candlesticks  are,"  that  is,  mean  "  seven  churches."  "  That 
Rock  was  Christ."  — "  That  Rock  meant  or  signified  Christ." 
But  it  will  be  said,  Was  there  not  in  this  passover  a  sac- 
rifice ;  and  if  the  Lord's  Supper  comes  in  the  place  of  the 
passover,  may  we  not  infer  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  sac- 
rifice too  ?  I  answer,  No.  There  were  two  parts  in  this 
passover ;  there  was  first  the  slaughter  of  the  lamb,  and  the 
shedding  of  its  blood  ;  and  subsequent  to  that  there  was  the 
roasting  of  the  lamb,  and  the  eating  of  its  flesh  upon  the 
table.  There  were  two  parts  in  the  ancient  passover  ;  there 
was  the  painful  or  the  sacrificial  part,  and  there  was  the 
pleasant  or  the  festival  part.  Well,  Jesus  is  the  antitype  of 
the  lamb  slain  ;  and  when  Jesus  died  upon  the  cross  and 
shed  his  blood,  he  took  to  himself  and  endured  all  the  pain- 
ful part,  and  thus  fulfilled  all  its  sacrificial  import ;  and  then, 
the  Lord's  Supper  answers  to  the  joyous  feast  that  succeeded 
the  sacrifice.  It  is  no  part  of  the  sacrifice  itself,  but  is  a 
festival  based  upon  it,  and  commemorating  the  sacrifice  as  a 
finished  sacrifice.  How  beautiful  is  this  !  The  Jew  had 
the  painful,  as  well  as  the  pleasant  part ;  but  in  our  econ- 
omy Jesus  took  all  the  pain,  and  bequeathed  to  us  only  the 
pleasure.  He  endured  all  the  sorrow,  and  he  has  given  to 
us  to  enjoy  the  glad  festival  that  follows.  Hence,  the  Com- 
munion table  is  of  all  spots  in  Christendom  the  most  joyous. 


104  SCRIPTUllE    READINGS. 

If  there  be  sunshine  in  the  sanctuary,  it  ouglit  to  be  there  ; 
and  the  id'ea  that  prevails  so  much  in  some  minds  of  com- 
ing to  the  Lord's  table  with  feelings  of  awe,  terror,  dread, 
dismay,  as  if  it  were  spread  on  Mount  Sinai,  with  the  thun- 
ders of  the  Law  rolling  over  it,  and  the  flashing  of  its  light- 
ning only  to  illuminate  it,  is  more  Jewish  than  Christian. 
We  are  to  come  to  that  table  as  to  a  glad  and  joyous  festi- 
val, commemorating  the  grandest  fact  in  the  universe,  the 
great  truth  that  the  Lamb  has  been  slain,  that  the  sac- 
rifice is  finished,  that  its  efficacy  is  in  our  hearts,  and 
that  this  festival  is  the  memorial  and  the  pledge  that  it 
is  so. 

AYe  must  notice  another  fact,  for  in  so  long  a  chapter  I 
can  only  allude  to  one  or  two,  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
when  your  children  shall  say  unto  you.  What  mean  ye  by 
this  service  ?  that  ye  shall  say.  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Lord's  passover."  Here  is  the  first  school  that  we  read  of 
in  the  ancient  Jewish  economy.  The  first  teacher  was  the 
father  or  the  mother,  and  the  first  pupils  were  the  children 
who  were  taught.  If  you  want  a  precedent  for  schools, 
here  it  is.  Children  are  inquisitive ;  they  are  meant  and 
made  to  be  so.  They  will  often  ask  more  questions  than  a 
parent  can  answer  ;  but  they  will  often  ask  questions  that  a 
parent  should  answer ;  and  therefore  when  they  ask  what 
you  mean  by  any  thing  you  engage  in,  you  ought  always  to 
be  ready  to  give  answer  for  a  fact  that  you  do,  as  well  as 
for  the  faith  that  is  in  you.  Parents  should  not  say,  "  You 
are  too  young  to  learn  this."  Every  thing  has  a  part  that 
can  be  explained  to  a  child,  Avhilst  it  has  darker  parts  that 
are  not  intelligible  to  an  angel ;  and  whatever  we  can  teach 
it  is  our  duty  to  render  as  plain  as  possible.  Lessons  that 
are  learned  in  infancy  are  often  not  forgotten  in  old  age. 
The  law  is,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,"  not 
"  in  the  way  he  would  go,"  as  some  practically  render  it, 
"  and  when  he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it."     Some 


EXODUS   XII.  105 

parents,  instead  of  falling  back  upon  their  own  inconsistency, 
as  the  explanation  of  filial  misconduct,  blame  God's  Word. 
They  quote  this  passage,  and  then  they  say  that  God's  Word 
has  failed ;  whereas,  it  is  their  duty  that  has  failed.  Again, 
it  is  said,  "  Train,"  not  teach  only.  The  gardener  is  not  sat- 
isfied with  pointing  out  the  course  tluit  a  vine  is  to  take,  he 
trains  it.  And  so,  in  all  eHicient  teaching  (and  I  rejoice  to 
say  that  this  idea  is  prevailing  more  and  more  in  the  public 
mind  than  it  did  some  years  ago),  there  must  not  only  be 
pointing  out,  but  practically  exhibiting.  There  must  be  giv- 
ing tone  to  the  conduct,  as  well  as  teaching  lessons  for  the 
memory. 

After  this  dread  stroke,  when  in  the  silence  of  midnight, 
unexpected  by  the  Egyptians,  the  angel  looked  into  the  face 
of  every  first-born  one,  from  Pharaoh's  down  to  the  mother's 
that  ground  at  the  mill,  and  it  drooped,  and  died,  "  there  was 
a  great  cry  in  Egypt."  And  people,  whenever  th(;y  cannot 
explain  a  catastrophe,  exaggerate  it;  and  therefore  they 
said,  "  We  be  all  dead  men."  "  This  is  but  the  beginning 
of  an  epidemic  that  will  spread  throughout  Egypt.  We  see 
that  the  cause  of  it  is  the  obstinacy  of  our  rulers  ;  there- 
fore, let  the  Israelites  be  driven  out  as  speedily  as  possible, 
for  we  be  all  dead  men."  Pharaoh  felt  as  they  felt ;  for  in- 
stead of  haggling  with  them,  if  I  may  use  the  expression, 
like  a  bargain  maker,  as  he  did  before,  saying.  Leave  your 
children  behind  you,  and  then  your  cattle,  he  is  now  only 
too  glad  to  get  rid  of  them  cattle  and  all,  because  a  judg- 
ment was  on  him  too  terrible  to  be  repeated,  and  too  severe 
to  be  longer  borne. 

The  Israelites  marched  out,  after  they  kept  the  passover, 
and  ate  of  the  roasted  lamb,  in  a  way  not  usual  with  East- 
ern nations,  namely,  with  their  shoes  or  sandals  on,  and  each 
with  their  staff  in  their  hand,  ready  to  take  their  journey 
into  the  promised  land.  We,  too,  are  pilgrims  and  strangers 
looking  for  a  better  country ;  and  if  we  are  not  to  have  the 


106  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

pilgrim  robe  or  the  pilgrim  stafF,  we  oiiglit  to  have  the  pil- 
grim spirit  which  consists  in  having  our  heart  where  our 
treasure  is,  and  both  in  heaven  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

We  find  next  what  I  need  not  again  explain,  that  they 
borrowed  from  the  Egyptians  gold  and  silver.  The  word 
"  borrow  "  ought  to  be  translated  "  ask."  I  gave  you  last 
Sunday  the  evidence  of  it  in  the  2d  Psalm,  where  we  have 
the  same  Hebrew  verb  thus  rendered,  ^^Ask  of  me,  and  I 
shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance."  Then  it 
is  said  that  the  Egyptians  "  lent"  these  jewels  to  them.  The 
passage  strictly  translated  is,  "  They  caused  them  to  ask  of 
them  such  things  as  they  required,"  that  is,  told  them  what 
they  would  want,  and  freely  gave  them,  because  they  were 
too  glad  to  get  rid  of  them,  and  no  doubt  in  some  cases  they 
gave  as  tokens  of  good-will,  because  they  had  found  them 
good  neighbors,  although  holding  a  religion  different  from 
their  own. 

The  following  illustrations  are  worth  special  elucidation : 

Verse  4. 
Accordij^g  as  the  number  of  the  souls. — As  to  the  requisite  mimber 
necessary  to  constitute  what  was  termed  the  "Paschal  society,"  which 
Moses  docs  not  specify,  some  hg-ht  is  gathered  from  the  following  pas- 
sage of  Josephus  (J.  W.  b.  vi.  chap,  9,  v.  3),  "  These  high  priests  did 
go  upon  the  coming  of  that  feast  which  is  called  the  Passover,  when 
they  slay  their  sacrifices,  from  the  ninth  hour  till  the  eleventh;  but  so 
that  a  company  of  not  less  than  ten  belonged  to  every  sacrifice,  (for  it 
is  not  lawful  for  them  to  feast  singly  by  themselves  ;)  and  many  of  us 
are  twenty  in  compyuny  !  " 

Verse  5. 

Without  blemish.  —  Ileb.  ^>^^^, /am/m,  perfect,  i.  e.,  entire,  whole, 
sound,  having  neither  defect  nor  redundancy  of  pai'ts,  unsoundness  of 
members,  or  deformity  of  aspect.  See  this  more  fully  explained.  Lev. 
xxii.  21-24,  This  has  a  typical  reference  to  Christ,  wlio  is  called,  1 
Pet.  i.  19,  "A  lamb  without  blemish  and  Avithout  spot," 

A  male  of  the  first  year.  —  Ileb.  n3"ii;"n;n>  hen-shanah,  son  of  a  year,  A 
male,  as  being  accounted  more  excellent  than  a  female,  ]\Ial.  i,  14  ; 
and  of  the  first  year,  because  it  retains  during   that  period  its  lamb- 


EXODUS    XIT.  107 

like  harmlcssncss  and  simplicity.  The  phrase  implies  rather  a  lamb 
that  fulls  somewhat  short  of  a  full  year  than  one  that  has  rcarhcd  it. 
It  was  probal)ly  taken  at  the  age  when  its  Hesh  was  most  tender  and 
grateful. 

Yekse  6. 

In  the  evening.  —  That  is,  in  the  afternoon,  between  the  time  of  the 
snn's  beginning  to  decline,  which  was  called  the  first  eveiiing,  and 
that  of  his  setting,  which  was  tei-med  the  second.  The  usual  time, 
doubtless,  was  the  middle  point  between  noon  and  sunset,  or  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Thus  Josephus,  speaking  of  the  Pass- 
over :  "  They  slay  their  sacrifices  from  the  ninth  hour  (three  o'clock.)" 
Thus  also  the  Talmud  :  "They  slew  the  daily  (evening)  sacrifice  at 
the  eighth  hour  and  a  half  (or  half  past  two),  and  offered  it  up  at  the 
ninth  hour  and  a  half,  (or  half  past  thi-ee).  But  on  the  eve  of  the 
Passover  they  slew  it  at  the  seventh  hour  and  a  half  (or  half  past  one), 
and  offered  it  up  at  the  eighth  hour  and  a  half,  (or  half  past  two.)" 
jNIaimonides  informs  us  that  the  paschal  lamb  was  slain  and  offered 
'up  immediately  after  the  usual  time  of  killing  and  offering  up  the 
evening  sacrifice.  In  like  manner,  our  blessed  Lord,  who  is  the  "  true 
Passover  slain  for  us,"  was  condemned  soon  after  the  sixth  hour, 
John  xix.  14,  i.  e.,  our  twelve  at  noon,  and  he  died  soon  after  the 
ninth,  Matt,  xxvii.  46,  50,  i.  e.,  after  our  three  in  the  afternoon. 

Verse  8. 

Boast  witlijire.  —  Because  it  could  sooner  be  madeready  by  roasting 
than  boiling.  This  circumstance  constituted  a  marked  difference  be- 
tween the  Passover  lamb  and  all  the  other  peace-offerings,  the  flesh  of 
which  Avas  usually  boiled,  in  order  to  be  eaten  both  by  the  people  and 
the  priests  as  something  additional  even  at  the  Paschal  solemnity.  In 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  13,  the  two  kinds  of  offering  are  accurately  distin- 
guished. "  And  they  roasted  the  passover  with  fire  according  to  the 
ordinance,  bi>t  the  other  holy  offerings  sod  they  in  pots,  and  in  cal- 
drons, and  in  pans." 

And  unleavened  bread.  —  This  also  was  ordered  for  the  sake  of  expe- 
dition, Deut.  xvi.  13  ;  as  both  xibraham  and  Lot  in  preparing  a  hasty 
meal  for  their  visitors,  caused  unleavened  cakes  to  be  made.  The 
original  term  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  a  Avord  signifying  to 
press,  squeeze,  or  compress,  and  is  applied  to  bread  destitute  of  the 
fermenting  matter,  because  it  has  its  parts  closely  compressed  to- 
gether, and  becomes  "what  Ave  commonly  call  heaA-y.  So,  on  the  other 
hand,   our    English    Avord   "  leaven "   is   formed   from    the    French 


108  SCRIFTUJRE    KEADIXGS. 

"Icvain,"  Avhich  is  derived  from  the  verb  "leA'cr,"  to  raise  up,  the 
effect  produced  upon  doughy  leaven,  rendering  the  bread  light  and 
spongy.  The  use  of  unleavened  bread,  as  a  perpetual  observance  in 
the  Taschal  celebration,  may  have  been  designed  to  remind  the  chosen 
people  of  their  leaving  Egypt  in  such  haste  as  to  be  obliged  to  carry 
their  unleavened  dough  with  them.  It  is  also  not  unreasonably  to 
be  inferred  from  one  or  two  passages  in  the  New  Testament,  that  a 
mystical  meaning  was  couched  under  this  circumstance.  Leaven  is  a 
species  of  corruption  caused  by  fermentation,  and  tending  to  putre- 
faction. For  this  reason  it  is  said  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  xii.  1,  "He 
began  to  say  unto  his  disciples,  first  of  all.  Beware  ye  of  the  leaven 
of  the  Pharisees  which  is  hypocrisy."  Paul  also,  in  1  Cor.  v.  7,  8, 
says,  "  Purge  out  therefore  the  old  leaven  ;  for  Christ  our  Passover  is 
sacrificed  for  us ;  therefore  let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  the  old 
leaven,  neither  with  the  leaven  of  malice  and  Avickedness  ;  but  Avith 
the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth." 

Verse  38. 
A  vxixed  multitude. — Heb.  ^>-i  ^'iji,  ereh  rah,  a  great  mixture;  a 
multitude  composed  of  strangers,  partly  Egyptians,  and  partly  natives 
of  other  countries,  who  had  been  prevailed  upon  by  the  miracles 
wrought  in  behalf  of  the  Israelites,  and  from  other  motives,  to  em- 
bark with  them  in  the  present  enterprise  of  leaving  Egypt.  Thus, 
Zech.  viii.  23,  "  In  those  days  it  sliall  come  to  pass  that  ten  men  shall 
take  hold,  out  of  all  languages  of  the  nations,  even  shall  take  hold  of 
the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying.  We  will  go  with  you,  for  we 
have  heard  that  God  is  with  you. "  It  can  hardly  be  supposed,  how- 
ever, that  the  major  part  of  them  were  prompted  by  considerations  so 
creditable  to  their  piety.  Self-interest  Avas  most  likely  the  moving 
spring  Avith  the  great  mass.  Some  of  them  Avere  probably  Egyptians 
of  the  poorer  class,  AA'ho  Avere  in  hopes  to  better  their  condition  in 
some  Avay,  or  had  other  good  reasons  for  leaA'ing  Egypt.  Others 
were,  perhaps,  foreign  slaves,  belonging  both  to  the  HebreAvs  and 
Egyptians,  Avho  Avere  glad  to  take  the  opportunity  of  escaping  with  the 
Israelites,  others  again  a  mere  rude,  restless  mob,  a  company  of 
hangers-on,  that  foUoAved  the  croAvd,  they  scarcely  kncAV  Avhy,  perhaps 
made  up  of  such  vagabonds,  adventurers,  and  debtors  as  could  no 
longer  stay  safely  in  Egypt.  Whoever  or  Avhatcvcr  they  were,  the  Is- 
raelites Avere  no  better  for  their  i)resence,  and,  like  thousands  in  all 
ages,  that  turn  their  faces  towards  Zion,  and  run  avcU  for  a  time,  Avhen 
they  came  to  experience  a  little  of  tlic  hardships  of  the  Avay,  they 
quitted  the  people  of  God  and  returned  to  Egypt. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 


••'HE  GREAT  EXODUS.  NUMBERS  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS.  'JIIE  MIRAC- 
ULOUS NATURE  OF  THE  EXODUS.  THE  FIRST-BORN.  UNLEAV- 
ENED BREAD.  WRITTEN  TEXTS.  GOD's  DISCIPLINE.  JOSEPIl'S 
BONES. 

• 

Here  -sve  liave  next  to  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  from 
the  grave  the  most  impressive  exodus  that  ever  occurred  in 
the  annals  of  mankind.  We  have  a  whole  people  redeemed 
by  a  special  miracle,  a  miracle,  however,  that  unfolded  the 
great  idea  that  was  needed  to  be  impressed  upon  all,  that 
without  shedding  of  blood,  without  the  Passover's  sacrifice 
slain,  there  was  no  remission  of  sin.  We  have  this  people 
brought  out  by  a  high  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm  from 
the  bondage,  wretchedness,  and  idolatry  of  Egypt,  and 
marched  through  the  wilderness  amid  shining  miracles,  until 
at  last  they  were  planted  in  the  land  of  Canaan  according  to 
the  promise  of  God. 

It  appears  that  600,000  men  able  to  bear  arms  went  forth 
m  this  exodus  from  Egypt ;  and  if  we  may  at  all  judge  from 
the  multitude  that  always  follows  in  the  train  of  an  eastern 
army,  where  the  camp  followers  are  far  more  numerous  than 
the  army  itself,  we  may  very  well  imagine  that  a  very  large 
body  of  the  Hebrew  population  accompanied  the  upwards 
of  half  a  million  of  fighting  men.  Allowing  that  for  every 
man  capable  to  bear  arms  there  were  two  old  and  two  young, 
besides  the  females  and  children,  we  may  estimate  that  a 
population  exceeding  the  population  of  London  three  mil- 
lions, or  two  millions  and  a  half,  rose  in  the  land  of  Egypt 
10 


110  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

at  once,  and  emerged  from  it  into  the  wilderness,  with  their 
faces  Zionward,  and  their  trust  in  the  Lord  God  of  Abra- 
ham. Now,  one  can  see  that  nothing  but  a  special  miracle 
of  protecting  Omnipotence  could  have  enabled  such  a  multi- 
tude to  rise,  and  to  carry  with  them  things  suitable  for  so 
long,  perilous,  and  unknown  a  journey.  And  I  cannot  con- 
ceive that  Moses  could  be  otherwise  than  directed  by  tlie 
Spirit  of  God,  when  he  made  the  experiment.  No  man  in 
his  senses  would  have  made  such  an  attempt,  unless  there 
had  been  an  Omnipotent  Power  to  go  with  him,  and  an  Om- 
niscient Presence  to  direct  him  ;  and  the  very  fact  that  a 
Hebrew  sheplierd,  brought  up  for  forty  years  in  the  court 
of  Pharaoh,  afterwards  for  forty  years  a  shepherd  on  the 
hills,  and  afterwards  doubted  and  despised  by  his  people  ; 
the  very  fact  that  he  marched  two  millions  and  a  half  of 
craven,  spiritless  slaves  out  of  Egypt,  is  an  evidence  that  he 
had  a  light  more  than  human,  and  a  presence  that  was  Di- 
vine. We  know  that  such  was  the  case,  and  that  he  under- 
took this  great  work,  because  he  had  the  command  and 
promise  of  the  Omnipotent  Deliverer. 

In  the  former  chapter  we  read  of  the  illustration  of  Christ 
our  Passover  sacrificed  for  us,  corresponding  to  the  Good 
Friday  of  Christians.  We  read  now  of  the  very  next  act, 
which  was,  no  doubt,  typical  of  a  yet  greater  and  grander 
one.  I  never  can  conceive  that  all  these  historical  facts  that 
are  recorded  here  were  accidental  events  in  the  chapter  of 
things.  I  believe  that  they  were  prefigurations  of  good 
things  to  come,  and  that  there  was  not  a  fact  in  the  history 
of  Israel  that  had  not  then,  and  has  not  now,  a  counterpart 
and  an  illustration  in  the  experience  of  the  people  of  God. 
The  first  thing  that  was  to  be  done  was  to  sanctify  the  fii'St- 
born  of  every  creature,  and  to  keep  that  holy  and  sacred  for 
ever.  Hence,  the  word  "  first-born  "  in  the  Scriptures  al- 
ways denotes  the  most  excellent  thing  ;  and  in  all  the  usages 
of  nations  the  first-born  is  still  the  heir,  and  the  preeminent 


EXODUS    XTII.  Ill 

one,  as  if  a  shadow  of  God's  Divine  institution  still  lingered 
amid  nations  that  know  not  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  And 
in  order  to  show  that  ^ve  have  our  first-born  children,  and 
the  first-born  cattle,  and  the  best  of  every  thing  that  we 
have,  not  by  right,  but  by  a  gratuitous  tenure,  we  have  it  at 
the  expense  of  sacrifice.  It  was  to  be  had  at  the  expense 
of  the  sacrifice  of  a  lamb  slain  for  that  purpose  amongst 
the  Jews  ;  and  we  have  it  now  as  the  result  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  our  passover.  We  are  not  original  proprietors, 
but  stewards.  What  we  have  is  not  our  own,  except  for 
use,  and  we  are  answerable,  he  that  has  little,  and  he  that 
has  much,  for  the  use  or  abuse  of  it.  We  are  not  our  own, 
and  we  are  not  redeemed  with  gold,  or  silver,  or  any  such 
corruptible  thing,  but  with  the  blood  of  a  lamb  without  spot 
or  blemish. 

Then  they  were  promised  that  God  would  bring  them 
into  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the 
Amorites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites,  which  was 
Palestine,  the  mark  of  which  would  be,  "  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,"  that  is,  the  choicest  things  taken  as  a  represen- 
tation of  all  the  rest.  And  it  is  said  that  this  service  of  un- 
leavened bread  subsequent  to  the  slaughter  of  the  lamb 
should  be  observed  as  a  memorial  for  all  generations.  The 
reason  of  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  was  not  that  there 
was  any  thing  in  it  that  connected  the  Jewish  mind  with  the 
fact  it  commemorated,  but  it  was  just  an  arbitrary  sign 
appointed  to  be  for  ever  associated  with  this  deliverance. 
Whenever  the  Jew  ate  the  unleavened  bread,  he  thought  of 
the  origin  of  it.  Just  as  in  the  rainbow  appointed  at  the 
flood,  there  Avas  nothing  in  it  connected  with  the  deluge,  but 
it  became  by  God's  consecration  the  symbol  that  reminds  us 
of  it.  So  in  bread  and  wine,  there  is  nothing  necessarily 
connected  with  the  death  of  Christ,  but  by  God's  association 
of  these  elements  with  it,  they  become  significant,  and  point 
back  to  that  great  and  blessed  event. 


112  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

We  tlien  read  tliat  when  their  cluldren  should  ask  them, 
•when  they  came  into  the  promised  land,  what  they  meant 
by  all  this  —  it  is  in  the  original  Hebrew,  "  What  this  ?  " 
which  plainly  we  are  to  interpret,  "  What  means  this  ? " 
just  as  "  This  is  my  body "  means  "  This  represents  my 
body"  —  when  they  asked  what  they  meant  by  this,  the 
answer  of  the  parent  should  be,  "  By  strength  of  hand  the 
Lord  brought  us  out  from  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bond- 
age." You  see  here,  as  I  mentioned  on  the  previous  chapter, 
the  provision  that  the  school  shall  always  subsist  in  the 
family,  that  the  teacher  and  the  taught  shall  be  a  relation 
reciprocated  and  sustained  there.  It  assumes  the  curiosity 
and  inquisitiveness  of  the  young,  and  it  insists  upon  the  duty 
of  the  parent  to  gratify  that  curiosity  by  explaining  Divine 
truths,  facts,  and  institutions,  as  they  ought  to  be  explained. 

And  so  important  were  all  these  things,  that  God  says, 
they  shall  be  hke  a  token  stamped  upon  the  hand,  and  so 
present  to  them,  that  they  shall  be  like  the  phylacteries,  or 
pieces  of  parchment,  hanging  over  the  forehead,  and  between 
the  eyes.  The  Pharisees  carried  this  out  literally,  but  evi- 
dently it  is  the  spirit,  and  not  the  parchment  of  it,  that  was 
obligatory  upon  God's  people. 

"  God  led  them  not"  through  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Phil- 
istines, although  that  was  near ;  for  God  said.  Lest  per- 
adventure  the  people  repent  when  they  see  war,  and  they 
return  to  Egypt."  Now  you  might  say,  could  not  God,  Avho 
could  miraculously  lead  them  out  of  P2gypt,  and  feed  them, 
and  make  a  pillar  of  fire  guide  them  through  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  have  armed  their  hearts  wiih  courage  enough,  and 
their  weapons  witli  success  enough,  to  destroy  the  Pliilis- 
tines?  Wliy  should  he  lead  them  by  a  circuitous,  and  not  by 
a  straight  route  into  Canaan  ?  If  you  will  trace  upon  any  of 
the  maps  in  Bagster's  Bible  the  route  from  Egypt  into  Ca- 
naan, you  will  find  that  it  was  purposely  and  deliberately 
circuitous.     And  if  }'ou  ask  why,  the  same  answer,  perhaps, 


EXODUS    XIII.  113 

must  be  rendered  that  you  must  give  when  you  ask,  "  Why 
have  I  been  led  to  my  present  position  by  a  route  so  circuit- 
ous ?  AYhy  have  I  reached  my  present  relationship,  my 
present  state,  by  so  circuitous  a  route  ?  The  answer  is,  that 
you  never  could  have  reached  it  by  a  straighter  one,  God 
knows  best  what  is,  not  the  nearest,  but  the  surest  way  and 
which  is  most  for  your  good  and  for  his  glory.  In  the  beau- 
tiful language  of  the  Prophet,  He  leads  the  blind  by  a  way 
that  they  know  not.  It  is  our  business  to  look  at  the  pillar 
of  cloud  by  day,  and  at  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  We  are 
to  run  the  race  "  set  before  us."  We  did  not  set  it  before 
ourselves,  God  set  it  before  us.  Whether  it  be  circuitous  or 
straight,  long  or  short,  rough  or  smooth,  we  are  to  run  the 
race  set  before  us  with  only  one  anxiety  — "  looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our  fliith."  The  Israel- 
ites in  their  exodus  from  Egypt  were  to  pursue  their  route 
through  the  wilderness,  not  inquiring,  nor  complaining, 
whether  it  was  circuitous  or  straight,  but  looking  to  the  pil- 
lar of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  If  we 
can  only  look  at  the  right  guide,  lean  upon  the  right  arm, 
contemplate  the  right  object,  all  the  rest  should  never  trouble 
us.  As  our  day  is,  our  strength  shall  be.  "  My  grace  is 
sufiicient  for  thee." 

But  there  is  another  idea  suggested  by  this,  and  it  is  a 
very  important  one,  that  on  God's  part  there  never  is  a  pro- 
fusion of  miracles  ;  open  a  chapter  of  the  Bollandists,  or  the 
annals  of  the  beatification  and  canonization  of  the  Romish 
saints,  and  there  is  such  a  profusion  of  miracles,  that  they 
are  sparkling  all  day  and  all  night,  until  you  are  weary  of 
reading  of  them.  But  in  God's  Word  you  never  find  a 
miracle  unless  a  miracle  be  actually  required  ;  and  when 
the  miracle  is  done,  it  carries  its  own  majestic  credentials 
upon  its  own  brow  ;  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  Now, 
you  will  notice  here  that  God  treated  the  men  as  rational, 
responsible,  intelligent  beings.  If  it  had  been  all  miracles, 
10* 


114  scraPTURE  readings. 

man  might  as  well  have  been  an  automaton ;  but  as  man 
was  a  responsible  ereature,  that  God  wished  to  train,  to  in- 
doctrinate, to  shape  and  mould  after  his  own  Divine  model, 
God  dealt  with  him  as  a  rational  being,  and  only  stej)ped  in 
when  there  was  absolute  necessity  for  it.  Even  a  heathen 
poet  could  say 

"Xec  Deus  intersit  nisi  dignus  vindice  nodus." 

"  Never  should  a  God  step  in  unless  there  be  a  difficulty 
•worthy  of  the  interposition  of  a  God."  That  is  acted  upon 
throughout  the  whole  of  Scripture.  God  never  steps  in 
with  supernatural  power,  except  when  the  natural  is  at  its 
wits'  end.  God  was  training  a  race  of  craven,  spiritless, 
broken-hearted  slaves.  He  would  not  substitute  for  tliem- 
selves  Himself;  but  he  would  school  them,  as  a  nurse  leads 
a  child,  helping  it  only  when  it  is  about  to  fall.  How  beau- 
tiful is  this  thought,  that  the  Great  Father  should  thus  bend 
over  his  family  as  a  mother  watches  her  infant  cliild,  help- 
ing it  only  when  it  needs  it,  knowing  that  to  help  it  too 
often  would  be  to  frustrate  Avhat  she  has  in  view,  as  not  to 
help  it  at  all  would  be  to  expose  it  to  danger.  God  deals 
with  his  people,  too,  according  to  their  growth.  He  gives  a 
dispensation  to  one  state  that  he  does  not  give  to  another. 
He  regards  men  as  progressive  creatures,  and  fits  his  deal- 
ings and  dispensations  accordingly. 

It  is  said  that  they  "  went  up  harnessed  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,"  that  is,  in  companies,  or  battalions,  so  many  abreast. 
It  does  not  mean  that  they  were  armed  with  weapons  for 
battle. 

In  the  19th  verse  there  is  a  reference  to  Joseph's  bidding 
his  brethren  swear  that  they  would  carry  his  bones  out  of 
Egypt  into  Canaan.  You  see  how  they  recollected  the  good 
and  great  patriarch's  dying  request.  And  what  did  Joseph 
mean  by  it  ?  It  was  a  pledge  to  the  slaves  in  Egypt  that 
they  would  yet  be  in  Canaan ;    it  was  a  declaration   that 


EXODUS    XTII.  115 

thougli  his  bones  might  rest  for  a  season  in  the  tombs  of  the 
Pharaohs,  his  heart  beat  towards  Canaan.  It  is  a  lesson  to 
us  that  this  is  not  our  rest,  that  there  remaineth  a  Canaan, 
a  true  rest,  for  the  people  of  God.  It  was  not  a  mere  piece 
of  caprice,  but  a  suggestive,  prefigurative,  and  significant  fact, 
showing  that  Joseph  looked  ibrward  to  that  day  when  his 
bones,  like  the  bones  of  his  nation  in  the  valley,  seen  by 
Ezekiel,  should  again  be  clothed  in  flesh,  and  come  bone  to 
bone,  and  he  should  rise  again. 

We  see  next,  God's  guidance  of  the  people  by  a  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  We  can  form 
an  idea  of  the  gigantic  size  of  this  phenomenon  by  the  fact, 
that  two  millions  and  a  half  of  people  had  to  see  it.  You 
can  conceive  what  an  immense  space  of  ground  this  number 
must  have  covered.  I  believe  that,  when  the  first  ranks 
had  reached  the  Red  Sea,  the  last  had  hardly  escaped  from 
Egypt.  The  shape  of  this  pillar  is  supposed  to  have  been 
like  ascending  smoke ;  and  mathematicians  might  easily 
calculate  the  height  it  must  have  risen  to,  in  order  to  be 
seen  by  all  this  mass  of  people.  One  may  suppose  that  it 
must  have  risen  nearly  a  mile  into  the  skies.  I  shall  take 
another  opportunity  of  explaining  that  that  pillar  was  the 
presence  of  God  Avhich  afterwards  rested  on  the  ark.  It 
was  called  the  Shechinah,  from  a  Hebrew  verb  meaning  "  to 
dwell ;  "  and  we  can  see  that  it  was  the  great  type  of  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  ROUTE  OUT  OF  EGYPT.  THE  BED  SEA.  DESPAIR  OF  THE 
ISRAELITES.  HEROISM.  SLAVERY.  MOSES  PRAYS.  GOD  RE- 
PLIES. PILLAR  OF  FIRE.  SIIECHAN.  THE  DIVIDING  OF  THE 
SEA.      DESTRUCTION    OF   PHARAOH. 

The  chapter  I  have  read  records  one  of  the  most  stupen- 
dous miracles  in  the  whole  annals  of  the  Christian  history. 
We  read  that  Pharaoh  so  far  submitted,  vrhen  the  death  of 
the  first-born  struck  every  heart  with  terror  and  dismay, 
that  he  let  the  Israelites  go  out  a  few  days,  as  he  thought, 
into  the  wilderness,  in  order  to  sacrifice ;  in  the  hope,  upon 
his  part,  that  after  they  had  done  so  they  would  return  to 
the  brickkilns,  and  continue  the  productive  slaves  of  Pha- 
raoh and  of  Egypt.  But  when  word  came,  that  the  Israel- 
ites had  not  simply  gone  out  for  a  holiday,  but  had  begun 
their  final  exodus  from  Egypt,  with  their  faces  towards  the 
the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  when  he  heard  that  they  had  been 
directed,  not  by  the  straight  route  that  seemed  to  man  the 
nearest,  but  by  the  route  that  God  knew  to  be  best ; — just 
as  it  is  still :  for  what  we  think  the  best  way  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  an  end  is  not  always  so  ;  and  it  is  well  that 
God  sometimes  leads  the  blind  by  a  way  they  know  not,  and 
brings  them  to  the  result  by  a  route  unexpected  and  incom- 
prehensible to  them,  but  in  the  end  most  for  their  good  and 
for  His  glory  —  he  determined  to  pursue  them.  It  appears 
that  the  Israelites  encamped  upon  the  west  side  of  the  Red 
Sea,  some  twenty  or  tliirty  miles,  at  tlie  very  lowest,  below 
what  is  now  called  Suez  ;    and  if  any  one  will  look  at  their 


EXODUS    XIV.  117 

position  there,  especially  if  acquainted  with  the  geological 
and  geographical  structure  of  the  country,  he  will  see  that 
they  were  literally  "  entangled  in  the  land."  And  when 
Pharaoh  heard  thi&  joyous  news,  that  a  mass  of  people, 
amounting,  as  we  have  seen,  to  about  the  population  of 
London  —  two  millions  and  a  half —  with  their  baggage  and 
their  wagons,  containing,  as  they  thought,  nutriment  for  a 
few  days  in  the  desert,  had  got  into  a  sort  of  Khybar  Pass, 
if  one  might  so  call  it,  with  no  boats,  or  bridges,  or  other 
means  of  crossing  the  sea,  he  determined  to  go  forth  with 
all  the  might  of  Egypt,  and  to  come  upon  them  when  they 
least  expected  it,  and  between  his  soldiers  and  the  sea,  to 
exterminate  the  slaves,  who,  under  the  pretext  of  enjoying 
a  holiday,  had  bade  a  final  farewell  to  Egypt. 

The  Israelites,  when  they  came  into  this  position,  were 
extremely  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  the  difficulties  that 
environed  them,  and  they  showed  the  most  craven  and  cow- 
ardly spirit,  as  well  as  hearts  that  had  lost  all  confidence  in 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel. 

When  they  heard  the  roar,  and  saw  the  white  crests  of 
the  multitudinous  waves  before  them,  and  heard  the  tramp 
of  the  steeds,  and  the  rush  of  the  chariots  of  Pharaoh  be- 
hind them,  and  when  they  looked  up  at  the  enveloping 
mountains  that  they  could  not  climb,  they  gave  up  all  for 
lost.  Instead  of  looking  to  the  pillar  of  cloud  that  had 
guided  them,  as  they  ought  to  have  done ;  instead  of  re- 
membering that  the  God  who  saved  them  out  of  Egypt  was 
their  God  still,  they  "  cried  out  unto  the  Lord,  and  they  said 
unto  Moses,"  in  language  that  must  have  been  painful  to 
him,  but  that  did  not  depress  so  wise,  so  intrepid,  and  so 
inspired  a  leader,  "  Because  there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt, 
hast  thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ?  "  Well, 
suppose  it  had  come  to  that,  better  have  died  free  men  in 
the  desert,  than  have  pined  a  few  years  longer  as  slaves  in 

Egypt. 


118  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Heathen  men  would  liave  felt  this  ;  and  it  was  a  deep 
shame  and  a  great  sin  for  a  number  of  Hebrews,  far  more 
enlightened,  to  utter  such  a  remonstrance  to  a  leader  who 
had  sacrificed  so  much  for  their  sakes.  But  mark  the  firm- 
ness of  this  great  leader.  When  they  said  so,  Moses  said 
to  them,  "  Fear  ye  not."  What  calmness  !  He  loses  not 
his  self-possession,  he  does  not  break  forth  into  passionate 
remonstrance  or  reply,  but  with  a  calm  that  indicated  an 
inspiration  that  was  Divine,  he  said,  "  Fear  ye  not,  stand 
still  "  —  do  not  lose  your  self-possession  —  "  and  see,"  what 
I  know  will  pass  before  you  in  all  its  magnificence  and  tri- 
umph, "  the  salvation  of  the  Lord."  It  is  wonderful,  even 
in  this  world,  apart  from  the  inspiration  that  was  here,  how 
much  in  an  army,  or  a  navy,  the  whole  issue  depends  upon 
the  calmness,  the  self-possession,  the  magnanimity,  the  fear- 
lessness of  one.  Let  the  leader  tremble  and  all  is  gone. 
Let  him  remain,  like  Moses,  firm,  and  the  very  spectacle  of 
strength  is  strength,  the  sight  of  a  hero  gives  heroism,  con- 
fidence displayed  by  a  leader  puts  confidence  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  follow  h-im. 

One  may  remark,  as  an  excuse  for  the  Hebrews  on  this 
occasion,  that  slavery  had  broken  their  hearts  ;  and  we  see 
here  in  their  faltering,  and  in  their  chiding  of  Moses,  how 
thoroughly  their  spirits  had  been  broken  by  slavery.  We 
often  say,  the  slaves  are  so  bad  that  they  are  not  fit  to  be 
emancipated ;  but  it  was  slavery  that  made  them  bad  ;  and 
to  plead  the  sin  that  destroys,  as  a  reason  for  ceasing  to  de- 
liver, would  not  be  just.  These  were  slaves  in  Egypt; 
they  had  lost  all  the  dignity  of  free  men,  and  all  sense  of 
independence ;  and  they  showed  that  they  were  neither  fit 
to  fight,  nor  fit  to  take  this  exodus,  nor  to  enjoy,  as  they 
could  not  realize,  their  position,  till  God  taught  them  subse- 
quently better. 

God  said  unto  Moses,  "  Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  me  ?  " 
It  is  plain,  that  while  Moses  spoke  with  such  calmness  and 


EXODUS    XIV.  119 

self-possession  to  the  agitated  and  terrified  crowd,  his  heart 
was  busy  meanwhile  in  fervent  and  earnest  prayer  to  God. 
It  is  not  said  here  that  he  prayed,  but  God's  reply,  "  Where- 
fore criest  thou  to  me  ? "  is  evidence  that  the  heart  of 
Moses  was  praying  whilst  his  lips  were  uttering  encourage- 
ment to  the  people.  There  is  a  time  for  prayer,  and  a  time 
for  action  ;  and  this  shows  that  time  may  be  spent  in  the 
one  that  should  be  spent  in  the  other.  There  is  a  time  to 
seek  the  grace  and  guidance  that  we  need,  but  there  is  a 
time  also  to  draw  upon  the  capital  that  God  has  given  us, 
and  turn  it  to  good  account.  Moses  here,  instead  of  con- 
tinuing to  pray,  was  told  to  begin  to  act,  "  Lift  thou  up 
thy  rod,  and  stretch  out  thine  hand  over  the  sea,  and  divide 
it." 

Here  you  will  notice  how  this  pillar  of  cloud  by  day, 
which  must  have  extended  upwards  of  a  mile  into  the  air, 
in  order  to  be  seen  by  so  many  people,  was  a  blazing  fire  by 
night.  This  pillar  is  sometimes  called  "  the  angel  of  God," 
sometimes  "  God,"  and  sometimes  "  the  Lord ; "  and  this 
evidently  shows  that  it  was  a  symbol  or  type  of  our  Blessed 
Redeemer,  and  that  He  was  in  it ;  for  when  the  temple  was 
built,  we  read  that  the  cloud  or  the  glory  came  and  rested 
upon  the  mercy-seat ;  and  we  read,  too,  that  Jesus  dwelt  in 
the  flesh,  or  literally  "  shechinaed"  in  the  flesh.  The  pillar 
of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night,  when  it  settled  between 
the  cherubim,  as  a  perpetual  bright  light,  and  token  of  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  temple,  was  named  the  "  shechinah," 
so  called  from  the  Hebrew  verb  shachan,  which  meant  "  to 
dwell."  Our  Lord  was  thus  the  "  shechinah  " 'incarnate  ; 
and  when  the  Bible  speaks  of  his  second  coming,  it  speaks 
of  his  coming  "  in  the  cloud."  The  apostles  were  told  that 
he  would  come  in  like  manner  as  they  had  seen  him  go.  So 
that  this  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  of  fire  by  night,  seems 
to  have  been  the  dwelling-place,  or  the  place  of  special 
manifestation  of  God  our  Saviour  before  he  became  man, 
and  was  incarnate. 


120  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

I  need  not  explain  to  you  the  hardening  of  Pharaoh's 
heart,  on  which  I  have  so  often  spoken  ah-eady. 

We  then  read  that  "  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over 
the  sea :  and  the  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go  back  by  a 
strong  east  wind."  If  you  will  look  at  the  maps  that  de- 
scribe the  Red  Sea,  especially  as  the  Arabian  Desert  was 
divided  in  ancient"  times,  you  will  notice  that  the  Israelites 
were  on  the  left  side  of  the  sea.  The  sea  runs  north  and 
south ;  the  Israelites  were  upon  the  west  side  of  it ;  the 
east  wind,  therefore,  must  have  penetrated  the  sea,  and  cut 
it  like  a  knife.  If  the  wind  had  come  from  the  north,  it 
would  have  driven  the  sea  towards  the  main  ocean,  but  by 
coming  from  the  east  it  cut  the  sea  like  a  sword.  This 
shows  how  specially  miraculous  it  was.  The  effect  was  not 
produced  by  the  waters  subsiding  or  receding ;  but  the  effect 
of  it  was  dividing  the  waters  into  two.  It  blew  right  against 
the  Israelites ;  and  if  it  had  been  a  natural  wind,  blowing, 
as  we  say,  accidentally,  it  w^ould  have  bloAvn  the  whole 
volume  of  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  over  the  hosts  of 
Israel,  and  thus  have  drowned  them ;  but  as  it  blew  across 
the  water,  it  cut  the  sea  in  two,  as  with  a  knife,  and  the 
water  stood,  as  if  it  had  been  ice,  in  solid  majestic  walls  on 
each  side,  when  the  Israelites  passed  through.  What  an 
impression  must  have  thrilled  every  heart,  when  the  intrepid 
leader  stretched  forth  his  rod,  having  in  itself  no  virtue, 
except  God's  command,  and  the  great  sea  waves  listened  to 
the  bidding  of  Him  who  made  them,  as  if  they  had  been 
children  gathering  round  a  loving  mother's  knee  to  do  her 
will  without  a  moment's  hesitation. 

We  read  that  when  they  did  so,  the  Israelites  marched 
through,  and  the  Egyptians  determined  to  follow  in  pursuit. 
Then  Moses,  at  the  command  of  God,  stretched  out  his  rod 
upon  the  sea  again,  after  the  Egyptians  had  passed  into  the 
middle  of  it ;  and  the  same  water  that  divided,  and  stood  up, 
and  opened  a  promenade  for  the  people  of  God,  collapsed, 
and  became  a  grave  to  their  Egyptian  pursuers. 


EXODUS    XIV.  121 

Let  us  here  notice  the  calmness  with  which  this  is  recorded. 
If  this  Avere  the  writing  of  an  uninspired  man,  there  would 
be  a  great  many  interjections,  and  marks  of  astonishment, 
as  if  conscious  tliat  he  was  recording  some  grand  tiling;  but 
the  very  quietness  of  the  words  here  that  disclose  so  stu- 
pendous a  miracle  is  to  me  a  proof  that  there  was  in  it  not 
the  guidance  of  the  human,  but  the  inspiration  of  the  Divine. 

We  read,  then,  that  the  Israelites  not  only  passed  through 
dry-shod,  and  reached  the  opposite  shore  in  safety,  but  that 
they  were  also  permitted  to  see  the  Egyptians  dead  upon  the 
banks.  Surely,  after  such  a  wonder  as  this,  after  such  a 
clearly  Divine  interposition,  there  was  no  more  murmuring. 
Surely,  surely,  they  never  lost  confidence  in  such  a  God  as 
this.  Alas  for  poor  human  nature,  they  murmured  and  re- 
pined again  and  again  ;  disbelieved  the  God  that  redeemed 
them,  and  presented  a  perfect  portrait  of  what  you  and  I 
are,  if  it  were  not  for  the  grace  of  God. 


The  Red  Sea  occupies  a  basin,  in  general  deep  and  rocky, 
and  extends  about  eleven  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  length 
from  north  to  south,  with  a  mean  breadth  which  may  be 
stated  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  Throughout  this 
great  extent  it  does  not  receive  the  waters  of  a  single  river. 
The  western  coast  is  of  a  bolder  character,  and  has  a  greater 
depth  of  water  than  the  eastern.  The  gulf  abounds  in  sunken 
rocks,  sand-banks,  and  small  islands,  together  with  numerous 
coral  reefs,  which  in  some  places  rise  above  the  water  to  the 
height  of  ten  fathoms.  The  bottom  is  covered  abundantly 
with  the  same  substance,  as  well  as  with  marine  plants, 
which  in  calm  weather  give  that  appearance  of  submarine 
forests  and  verdant  meadows  to  which  the  sea  probably  owes 
its  Hebrew  name  of  Yam  Suph,  as  well  as  its  present  Arab 
name  of  Bahr  Souf  Burckhardt  observes,  that  the  coral  is 
red  in  the  inlet  of  Akaba,  and  white  in  that  of  Suez.  The 
11 


122  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

remarkably  beautiful  appearance  which  tins  sea  exhibits 
has  attracted  notice  in  all  ages  ;  and  among  its  other  char- 
acteristics, the  far  more  than  ordinary  phosphorescence  of 
its  waters  has  been  mentioned  with  peculiar  admiration. 
The  width  of  the  gulf  contracts  towards  its  extremities,  and 
at  its  mouth  is  considerably  narrower  than  in  any  other 
part.  The  strait  of  Bab-el-Mandel  is  there  formed,  and 
does  not  exceed  fourteen  miles  in  breadth ;  beside  which  it 
is  divided,  at  the  distance  of  three  miles  from  the  Arabian 
shore,  by  the  island  of  Perim.  The  high  land  of  Africa  and 
the  peak  of  Azab  give  a  remarkably  bold  appearance  to  the 
shore  in  this  part.  At  its  northern  extremity  the  Red  Sea 
separates  into  two  minor  gulfs  or  inlets,  which  inclose  be- 
tween them  the  peninsula  of  Sinai.  The  easternmost  of 
these  is  that  of  Akaba  or  Ailah,  called  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  Allanites  ;  this  is  only  about  half  the  extent  of  the 
other,  and  is  rendered  very  dangerous  by  shoals  and  coral 
reefs.  The  westernmost  gulf  is  called  the  gulf  of  Suez, 
anciently,  Heeropolites :  the  ancient  and  modern  names  of 
both  inlets  being  from  towns  that  formerly  did,  or  do  now, 
stand  at  their  extremities.  It  is  the  latter,  the  western  gulf, 
which  was  crossed  by  the  Hebrews.  It  is  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  in  length,  with  a  mean  breadth  of  about  thirty 
miles,  narrowing  very  much  at  its  northern  extremity.  The 
mean  depth  of  its  water  is  from  nine  to  fourteen  fathoms, 
with  a  sandy  bottom ;  and  it  is  of  much  safer  navigation 
than  the  other.  There  are  many  indications  which  place  it 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  Arabian  gulf  was  formerly  much 
more  extensive  and  deeper  than  at  present.  One  of  the 
most  certain  proofs  of  this  is,  that  cities,  which  were  formerly 
mentioned  as  seaports,  are  now  considerably  inland.  This 
is  particularly  the  case  in  the  gulf  of  Suez,  where  the  shore 
is  unusually  low.  That  the  sea  formerly  extended  more 
northward  than  at  present  there  is  much  reason  to  conclude, 
not  only  from  the  marine  appearances  of  the  now  dry  soil, 


EXODUS   XIV.  123 

but  from  tliis  fact,  among  otlier^:,  that  Kolsoum,  wliidi  was 
formerly  a  port,  is  now  tliree  quarters  of  a  mile  inland. 
There  is  certainly  nothing  in  the  appearance  of  the  soil 
about  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  to  discountenance  the  hypothesis 
that  the  Red  Sea  was  formerly  no  other  than  a  strait  uniting 
the  Mediterranean  with  the  Indian  Ocean ;  and  that  the 
isthmus  which  is  now  interposed  between  the  Ked  Sea  and 
the  Mediterranean  was  formed  by  drifts  of  sand  from  the 
adjoining  deserts.  This,  however,  is  an  hypothesis :  but 
there  is  nothing  hypothetical  in  the  statement  that  the  gulf 
once  extended  more  to  the  north  than  at  present ;  and  this 
fact  is  of  importance,  because  it  enables  us  to  see  that  noth- 
ing less  than  a  miraculous  interposition  of  the  Divine  power 
could  have  enabled  the  Israelites  to  cross  the  bay  even  at 
the  highest  of  the  points  which  has  been  selected  by  those 
who,  perhaps,  were  influenced  by  the  wish  to  diminish  the 
force  of  the  miracle,  or  to  account  for  it  on  natural  principles. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

SONG  OF  MOSES.      MURMURING.      THE  BITTER  WATER.     THE  BRANCH. 

In  the  chapter  that  precedes  the  one  we  have  read  we 
had  the  sublime  and  impressive  record  of  the  complete  over- 
throw of  the  pursuing  hosts  and  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and  of 
the  magnificent  exodus,  or  escape  of  the  children  of  Israel 
along  the  channel  of  the  divided  Red  Sea  drj-shod,  and 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  child,  or  injury  to  one  indi- 
vidual. And,  at  the  close  of  such  a  deliverance,  what  be- 
comes a  Christian  people  ?  Surely,  surely,  thanksgiving 
and  song.  But  who  was  the  Being  to  whom  Miriam,  and 
Moses,  and  the  children  of  Israel,  lifted  up  this  magnificent 
hallelujah,  perhaps  the  most  magnificent  on  record  ?  It  was 
not  to  Moses,  the  earthly  deliverer,  it  was  not  to  the  spirit 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  or  Jacob,  or  the  sainted  ones  that  pre- 
ceded them ;  it  was  only  to  the  Lord  God  :  for  he  says,  "  I 
will  sing  unto  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously : 
the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea." 

This  song  is  three  hundred  years  older  than  any  song  or 
anthem  that  exists  in  any  language  whatever  ;  and  though  so 
old  as  to  date,  there  is  no  hymn  of  praise  composed  in  ancient 
times,  and  one  may  add,  in  modern  times,  tiiat  in  regard  of 
poetic  merit,  of  true  beauty,  of  deep,  rich,  and  suggestive 
expression,  can  for  one  moment  be  compared  with  it.  The 
master  musician  of  the  world  has  exhausted  all  his  genius 
in  trying  to  embody  in  strains  of  music  what  is  so  magnifi- 
cently expressed  in  human  speech.  Some  of  the  figures 
almost  speak.     It  is  scarcely  reading,  it  is  almost  hearing. 


EXODUS   XV.  125 

"  They  sank  as  a  stone."  "  With  the  blast  of  thy  nostril3 
the  waters  were  gathered  together,  the  floods  stood  upright 
as  an  heap,  and  the  deptlis  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of 
the  sea."  The  language  is  most  expressive  of  the  reality, 
and  throughout  indicates  that  it  was  no  accidental  occurrence, 
no  kicky  wind,  or  extreme  ebb-tide,  but  an  actual  miracle 
that  indeed  can  be  proved  by  geographical  inspection,  by 
historical  evidence,  and  by  the  Scripture's  own  account,  to 
have  been  the  result  of  the  interposing  omnipotent  power 
of  God. 

And  when  the  children  of  Israel  thus  sing,  they  say  that 
this  same  God,  who  has  thus  triumphed  gloriously,  is  "our 
strength  and  our  song,  and  he  is  become  our  salvation." 
"  He  is,"  says  one,  "  my  God,"  and  all  say,  "  He  is  our  God, 
and  our  Lord." 

He  says  in  the  3d  verse,  "  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war." 
That  expression  is  a  Plebraism.  "  A  man  of  words  "  means 
an  eloquent  man  ;  "  a  man  of  strength  "  means  a  powerful 
man  ;  "  a  man  of  war  "  means  one  who  is  mighty  in  battle, 
and  against  whom  victory  is  impossible,  should  he  be  pleased 
to  will  it  the  contrary. 

It  then  describes  what  God  did:  "Pharaoh's  chariots 
and  his  host  hath  he  cast  into  the  sea :  his  chosen  cap- 
tains also  are  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea.  The  depths 
have  covered  them :  they  sank  into  the  bottom  as  a 
stone,"  unable  to  extricate  themselves  any  more  than  a 
stone  is  able  to  lighten  its  weight,  and  rise  to  the  surface  of 
the  water. 

But  why  this  triumph  over  Pharaoh  ?  It  was  not  that 
God  had  pleasure  in  Pharaoh's  ruin,  but  that  he  had  a  pur- 
pose of  Israel's  deliverance.  I  am  sure  any  one  who  has 
listened  to  the  chapters  we  have  read  describing  God's  bear- 
ing and  forbearing  dealings  towards  Pharaoh,  the  efforts 
made  to  convince  him,  and  the  miracles  that  were  wrought 
before  him,  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  one  so  repro- 
11* 


126  SCnil'TURE    READINGS. 

bate,  so  infutuatcd,  so  obstinate  before  God,  and  so  cruel  to 
man,  met  with  that  doom  which  the  retributive  providence  of 
God  itself  seems  to  demand. 

Tlien  he  describes  the  scene,  how,  "with  the  blast  of  thy 
nostrils  the  waters  were  gathered  together ;  "  and  then,  the 
still  irrepressible  pride  of  Pharaoh,  "  The  enemy  said,  I 
will  pursue,  I  will  overtake,  I  will  divide  the  spoil ;  my  lust 
shall  be  satisfied  upon  them;"  but  in  answer  to  all  this, 
*'  Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind ;  the  sea  covered  them ; 
they  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters.  "Who  is  like  unto 
thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods  ?  "  It  was  this  very  text  that 
Queen  Elizabeth  had  inscribed  upon  the  coins  that  were 
struck  in  her  reign,  to  commemorate  the  remarkable  defeat 
of  the  Spanish  Armada,  and  the  deliverance  of  this  great 
land  from  the  instruments  of  torture  with  which  the  ships 
were  laden,  for  purposes  of  wickedness  and  crime  peculiar  to 
Rome.  She  struck  on  her  commemorative  medals,  "  The 
Lord  blew  with  his  winds,  and  they  were  scattered."  We 
may  depend  upon  it,  my  dear  friends,  that  it  is  because  in 
this  land  God  has  his  peoi)le,  and  because,  with  all  its  faults, 
there  is  in  it  a  deeper  and  wider  spread  of  true  religion  than 
elsewhere,  that  we  have  been  so  sheltered  and  so  preserved 
during  so  many  years. 

You  remember  that,  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  harpers 
are  re})resented  as  standing  upon  a  sea  of  glass,  singing  the 
song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb ;  showing  that  this  song  of 
Moses  shall  mingle  at  the  last  day  with  the  song  of  the 
Lamb,  and  constitute  one  grand  anthem  of  praise  to  God  for 
having  delivered  Jew  and  Gentile  not  only  from  Pharaoh 
and  from  Egypt,  but  from  sin,  Satan,  and  the  world.  You 
remember,  also,  that  I  told  you  how  Mr.  Elliott,  in  his  HorcE 
Apocalypticce^  very  satisfactorily  shows  that  that  event  prob- 
ably refers  to  this  country  during  the  last  sixty  or  seventy 
years  of  its  history,  when  the  llame  of  fire  and  war  swept 
all  Europe  ;  and  this  country,  so  fur  from  being  visited  by 


EXODUS    XV.  127 

these  judgments,  began  its  Bible  Societies,  Missionary  So- 
cieties, and  Tract  Societies.  Whilst  the  nations  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  were  scourged  and  smitten  most 
awfully,  tlie  people  of  this  country  only  touched  their 
harps  with  more  joyous  fingers,  and  sung  a  song  of  praise 
to  that  God  who  had  shielded  us,  and  been  our  refuge  and 
defence. 

We  read  that  when  Moses  had  finished  his  hymn,  Miriam, 
that  is  the  Ilc^brew  rendering  of  the  Greek  word  Mapla, 
and  the  English  name  "  Mary,"  ''  the  prophetess,  the 
sister  of  Aaron,  took  a  "timbrel,"  that  is,  a  sort  of  small 
drum,  "  in  her  hand,  and  all  the  women  went  out  after 
her,  with  timbrels  and  with  dances."  When  the  roll  of 
the  deep  bass  had  ceased,  the  beautiful  and  more  bril- 
liant trebles  began,  "  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  tri- 
umphed gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown 
into  the  sea." 

"  So,"  it  is  said,  "  jNIoses  brought  Israel  from  the  Red  Sea, 
and  they  went  out  into  the  wilderness  of  Shur."  But,  alas ! 
alas  !  for  your  heart  and  mine,  we  no  sooner  get  mercies,  and 
thank  God  for  them,  than  we  forget  them  ;  and  when  a  dilfi- 
culty  comes  we  did  not  anticipate,  we  fancy  that  the  God  who 
delivered  us  from  the  Red  Sea  is  unable  to  give  us  a  little 
fresh  water  to  satisfy  our  thirst.  These  very  children  of  Is- 
rael, so  stupendously  and  magnificently  delivered,  and  so 
thankful  for  it,  three  days  afterwards,  when  they  had  crossed 
the  sea,  and  gone  into  the  desert,  broke  out  in  passionate 
recriminations  against  Moses,  for  what  surely  he  was  not  to 
blame,  for  he  showed  that  he  had  a  Divine  call  to  lead  them 
forth,  and  forgot  what  God  was  able  to  do,  and  said,  "  What 
shall  we  drink  ?  "  Moses,  the  meek  legislator  and  leader  of 
his  people,  did  not  reply  in  recriminating  language,  but  ever 
mindful  that  a  soft  answer  best  turneth  away  wrath,  and 
not  forgetting  whose  he  was,  and  in  whom  was  his  help, 
"  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  showed  him  a  tree, 


128  SCRirTUKE    READINGS. 

which,  when  he  had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  waters  were 
made  sweet." 

It  is  noticed  in  "  Bartlett's  Forty  Days  in  the  Desert," 
that  there  is  a  well  still  called  the  well  of  Moses,  that  may 
fairly  be  concluded,  by  the  progress  of  the  children  of  Is- 
rael each  day,  to  be  the  very  well  that  they  came  to.  It  is 
just  about  three  days'  quiet  journey  from  the  part  of  the 
Red  Sea  at  which  the  Israelites  must  have  landed  when  they 
crossed  it.  And  he  tasted  the  waters,  and  found  that  they 
were  excessively  offensive  to  the  taste.  Some  portion  of  the 
water  was  analyzed  by  a  chemist,  and  he  stated  that  what  he 
discovered  chiefly  in  it  was  sulphate  of  lime.  The  waters 
are  plentiful,  but  extremely  bitter  to  the  taste.  He  inquired 
of  the  natives  of  the  desert  wliether  there  was  any  tree 
which,  if  cast  into  the  water,  would  make  it  sweet ;  but  they 
had  no  recollection  of  such  a  thing  by  tradition,  nor  did 
they  know  of  any  tree  fitted  to  do  it.  The  fact  is,  the  use 
of  the  branch  by  Moses  was  not  because  there  was  any  vir- 
tue in  it,  but  because  God  always  accompanies  a  miracle  by 
a  significant  sign  of  it.  The  miracles  of  Jesus  were  always 
preceded  by  something  very  simple,  not  in  itself  having  any 
virtue,  but  merely  to  show  that  it  was  his  doing.  He 
touched  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  the 
tongues  of  the  dumb,  and  they  were  healed.  So  here,  God 
bade  Moses  cast  a  branch  into  the  water  merely  to  shoAV  the 
connection  between  God  the  cause,  and  the  result,  not  be- 
cause there  was  any  virtue  in  the  branch.  And  then  he 
makes  the  miracle  the  basis  of  a  new  lesson,  "  If  thou  Avilt 
diligently  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
wilt  do  that  Avliich  is  right  in  his  sight,  and  wilt  give  ear  to 
his  commandments,  and  keep  all  his  statutes,  I  will  put  none 
of  these  diseases  upon  thee  which  I  have  put  upon  the  Egyp- 
tians :  for  I  am  the  Lord*  that  hcaleth  all  thy  diseases, 
pardoneth  all  tliy  sins,  reneweth  thy  youth  like  the  eagle's, 
and  crowneth  thee  with  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy." 


EXODUS  xy.  J 29 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

MURMURING  FOR  BREAD.  GOd'S  MERCY  AND  GOODNESS.  MEAN- 
ING OF  MANNA.  TECULIARITIES  IN  THE  MIRACLES.  THE 
SABBATH. 

It  appears  after  the  chapter  which  -we  read  last  Lord's 
day  morning,  that  when  on  their  murmuring  because  of  the 
bitterness  of  the  water  in  the  well  they  arrived  at,  they  had 
no  sooner  got  that  want  supplied  in  mercy,  and  not  in  judg- 
ment, than  they  began,  like  human  nature  still  in  all  its 
phases,  to  murmur  that  they  had  not  the  enjoyment  of  all 
that  was  j)ossible,  as  well  as  all  that  was  desirable. 

They  arrived,  it  seems,  at  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  as  it 
ought  more  properly  to  be  called,  the  wilderness  stretching 
north-east  from  the  sea  which  they  had  crossed,  on  the  loth 
day  of  the  second  month  after  their  exodus  from  the  land 
of  Egypt ;  and  there  we  read,  "  the  whole  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel  murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron," 
upon  this  ground,  that  they  had  not  a  supi)ly  of  the  bread 
that  they  needed,  or  at  least  of  the  sort  of  food  that  was 
palatable  to  their  taste  ;  and  they  said  in  a  most  craven  and 
criminal  manner,  "  Would  to  God  we  had  died  by  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  when  we  sat  by  the  llesh- 
pots,  and  when  we  did  eat  bread  to  the  full ; "  that  is,  they 
said  they  preferred  the  gratification  of  appetite,  even  in 
degradation,  to  the  safety  of  the  soul  and  the  enjoyment  of 
freedom.  They  would  rather  be  without  God,  with  plenty 
to  eat,  than  be  the  friends  and  heirs  of  God,  and  suffer  a 


EXODUS    XVI.  131 

little  temporary  inconvenience.  But  how  often  is  the  same 
principle  developed,  fullilled,  and  acted  on,  amongst  us,  and 
the  solemn  and  impressive  testimony  forgotten,  "  AVhat  shall 
it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole  world"  —  not  Only 
bread  for  a  day,  but  the  whole  world  —  "  and  lose  his  own 
soul ?  " 

Now  mark,  after  this,  an  instance  of  the  great  mercy  and 
forbearance  of  God,  when  least  deserved.  They  murmured, 
rebelled,  remonstrated,  regretted  that  they  had  taken  a  sin- 
gle step  in  what  they  kncAV  to  be  the  right  direction ;  but 
God,  instead  of  judging  them  as  he  might  have  done,  and 
visiting  them  for  their  transgressions,  as  they  most  richly 
deserved,  graciously  said,  "  Behold  I  will  rain  bread  from 
heaven  for  you."  lie  pardoneth  our  sins.  Where  sin 
abounds,  grace  doth  much  more  abound.  He  comes  over 
the  mountains  of  our  transgressions,  and  shows  himself  gra- 
cious to  us  in  spite  of  them. 

Then  Moses  and  Aaron  said  to  them,  "Why  should  you 
murmur  against  us?  We  are  but  the  instruments  ;  we  have 
a  duty  to  discharge,  a  mission  to  fulfil ;  we  have  done  it  to 
the  letter ;  we  are  but  the  instruments  in  God's  hands.  Do 
not  murmur  against  us  as  if  we  were  the  cause  of  this  mo- 
mentary inconvenience ;  but  see  if  it  be  not  the  doing  of 
that  God  who  has  done  all  so  beneficently  in  the  past,  and 
w^ho  will  never  do  any  thing  that  will  permanently  injure 
you  in  the  course  of  the  future.  Your  murmuring  is  not 
against  us,  but  against  the  Lord." 

And  immediately  the  Lord  told  Moses  and  Aaron  to  come 
near  to  him,  and  hear  him ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  that 
shone  from  the  pillar  as  fire  by  night,  and  that  app(;ared  in 
the  same  pillar  as  a  cloud  by  day,  was  that  tabernacle  or 
sanctuary,  out  of  which  God  spake,  and  promised  mercies 
and  blessings  to  the  children  of  Israel.  Then  it  came  to 
pass  that  tliere  descended  from  heaven,  first  the  dew  of  the 
morning,  and  alter  that  dew  had  evaporated  by  the  sun's 


132  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

heat,  there  lay  round  about  a  small  hoar  frost  upon  the 
ground,  like,  as  it  is  described  in  another  passage,  "corian- 
der seed,  white;  and  the  taste  of  it,"  as  they  afterwards 
proved,  "  was  like  wafers  made  with  honey." 

The  children  of  Israel  said,  "  It  is  manna."  This  is  a 
very  unfortunate  translation,  and  is  not  at  all  the  meaning 
of  the  original.  The  Hebrew  word  which  our  translators 
have  rendered  "It  is  manna"  is  Man-hii?  and  the  direct 
translation  of  that  is,  "  What  is  it  ?  "  You  can  see  the  ab- 
surdity of  our  translation  in  this  case  by  the  very  succeed- 
ing words  ;  for  they  first  say,  "  It  is  manna,"  and  then  it  is 
added,  "  for  they  wist  not  what  it  was."  How  could  they 
know  it  was  manna,  if  they  did  not  know  what  it  was  ?  The 
passage  itself  is  so  palpable  a  contradiction,  that  one  can 
see  there  is  something  wrong.  The  meaning  of  the  original 
is,  that  the  children  of  Israel,  surprised  by  so  extraordinary 
a  phenomenon,  exclaimed,  partly  out  of  wonder,  and  partly 
out  of  a  desire  to  be  informed,  "  What  is  this  ?  "  3Ian-ku  ? 
"And  Moses  said  unto  them.  This  is  the  bread  which  the 
Lord  hath  given  you  to  eat ; "  and  from  the  interrogatory, 
3Ia7i-hu?  "What  is  it?"  it  came  to  be  called  "Manna." 
So  that  wherever  the  word  "  Manna  "  occurs,  you  have  an 
interrogation  made  a  positive  or  affirmation,  and  turned  into 
■  the  name  of  the  substance  that  fed  the  children  of  Israel 
throughout  the  desert. 

We  then  read  the  record  of  the  nature  of  this  food,  and 
the  way  in  which  it  was  to  be  used.  Some  of  the  children 
of  Israel  gathered  more,  and  some  less ;  but  by  a  beautiful 
providential  provision,  he  who  gathered  much  had  nothing 
over,  and  he  who  gathered  little  had  no  lack.  Is  not  this 
realized  in  a  Christian  mind,  that  he  who  in  this  world  is 
prospered  mightily,  finds  he  has  not  an  excess  which  he  can- 
not dispose  of;  and  that  he  who  has  the  grace  of  God  in 
his  heart,  having  little  in  this  world,  finds  he  has  just  enough, 
and  so  finds  in  his   case  the  performance  of  that  prayer, 


EXODUS   XVI.  133 

"  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  but  feed  me  with  food 
convenient  for  me,"  in  the  quiet  and  blessed  contentment 
that  finds  much  in  httle,  and  in  much  nothing  over. 

Notwithstanding,  it  is  said  that  Moses  told  them  they 
must  not  leave  it  till  the  morning.  It  seems  as  if  that  had 
some  connection  with  the  petition,  "  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread."  What  a  beautiful  and  regulating  princii)le  is 
in  that  clause  !  Do  not  give  me  bread  for  to-morrow  —  I 
may  never  see  it;  nor  for  yesterday  —  I  do  not  require  it; 
but  give  me  to-day  daily  bread.  That  is  the  petition  of  all 
flesh.  It  is  the  petition  of  the  poor,  for  they  are  dependent 
on  every  day's  supply ;  and  it  is  more  the  petition  of  the 
rich  than  we  sometimes  think,  because  there  are  two  things 
requisite  in  having  food ;  there  is  not  only  the  food  that  we 
need,  but  there  is  the  appetite  to  enjoy  it,  and  to  be  bene- 
fited by  it ;  and  if  the  poor  man  has  little  bread,  or  not  of 
the  best  kind,  he  has  generally  the  healthiest  appetite ;  and 
if  the  rich  man  has  the  best  bread,  he  has  often  the  most 
defective  appetite ;  and,  therefore,  rich  and  poor  have  need 
to  pray,  "  Give  us  not  only  bread,  but  health  to  get  nutri- 
ment, strength,  and  vigor  from  it."  Thus,  the  Israelites  had 
no  supply  for  to-morrow,  but  plenty  for  to-day ;  and  as  long 
as  we  live  in  a  constant  sense  of  dependence  upon  Him 
who  satisfieth  the  wants  of  all  flesh,  so  long  we  shall  be 
satisfied. 

We  read,  however,  that  on  the  Friday  they  were  to 
gather  a  double  quantity,  because  they  were  not  to  go  out  to 
toil  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  Now,  it  has  been  held  by  many 
that  the  Sabbath  is  purely  a  Jewish  institution.  I  hold  that 
the  fourth  commandment  is  simply  the  institution  of  the 
Sabbath,  not  of  the  day,  that  Sabbath  to  be  enjoyed  upon 
each  seventh  day ;  but  whether  the  day  be  the  first  or  the 
seventh,  is  for  subsequent  thought.  The  essential  require- 
ment of  the  Sabbath  is  a  seventh  portion  of  man's  time  dedi- 
cated to  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  improvement  of  his 

12 


134  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

heart  and  soul,  study  of  Divine  things,  communion  with  God, 
and  preparation  for  glory,  happiness,  and  immortality.  The 
fourth  commandment  is,  "  Remember,"  not  the  seventh  day 
to  keep  it  holy,  but  "  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 
Six  days  shalt  thou  work,  and  then  the  seventh  day,  not 
the  seventh  in  order,  but  one  day  in  the  seven,  shall 
be  consecrated  and  dedicated  as  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord. 
And  when  it  was  altered  to  the  first  day,  it  was  not 
repealing  the  Sabbath  and  giving  another ;  it  was  sim- 
ply lifting  the  light  from  the  Jewish  candlestick,  which  was 
the  seventh  day,  to  the  Christian  candlestick,  which  was  the 
first  day.  It  was  not  the  extinction  of  the  light,  but  the 
transference  of  the  light  of  the  Sabbath  from  one  day  to  the 
other.  I  showed  on  a  previous  occasion  that  that  trans- 
ference must  either  have  been  to  the  first  day  of  the  w^eek, 
or  the  seventh  still  continued,  in  order  that  God's  whole  law 
might  be  kept  and  honored  ;  because  God's  law  is  as  rigidly, 
"  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,"  as  it  is,  "  Thou  shalt  rest  on 
the  seventh  day."  If  any  man  will  not  work,  he  breaks  the 
fourth  commandment,  just  as  truly  as  the  man  who  dese- 
crates the  Sabbath  day.  Well,  when  Jesus  transferred  the 
Sabbath,  as  we  believe  he  did,  to  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
he  must  either  have  transferred  it  to  the  first,  or  have  left  it 
on  the  seventh  day,  in  order  that  the  fourth  commandment 
might  be  observed.  If  he  had  transferred  the  Sabbath  to 
the  fourth  day  of  the  week,  then  once  it  would  have 
occurred,  "Three  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  the  fourth  day 
shalt  thou  rest ; "  but  by  transferring  it  to  the  first  day  of 
the  week  there  were  but  two  Sabbaths  in  the  fourteen  days ; 
and  the  six  days'  labor,  and  the  seventh  day's  rest,  were 
thus  perpetuated  without  the  least  infraction.  Should  you 
ask  how  we  know  that  the  Sabbath  was  transferred  to  the 
first  day,  I  answer,  just  in  the  same  way  as  we  know  that 
the  apostles  were  enjoined  to  write  the  Scriptures. 

You  will  be  told  by  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome 


EXODUS  xvr.  135 

tliat  tlicrc  was  no  commandment  given  to  the  apostles  to 
write  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  We  answer  that  by  saying, 
first,  that  it  is  matter  of  fact  that  they  did  write ;  and  it  is 
also  matter  of  fact  that  they  declare  they  did  write.  John 
says,  "  These  ani  written,  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing  ye  might 
have  life  through  his  name ;  "  and  the  fact  that  they  wrote 
is  the  presumption,  nay,  the  Cei'tainty,  that  they  were  in- 
spired to  do  so  ;  for  if  they  were  n.ot  inspired  to  write,  as 
well  as  to  think,  then  the  apostles  did  what  was  contrary 
to  God's  mind,  which  cannot  be  admitted.  So  the  Sabbath 
was  observed  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  we  find  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Epistles,  in  the  earliest  in- 
spired Church.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  ante-Nicene 
Church,  but  of  the  time  when  the  apostles  were  living,  and 
directing  all ;  and  the  fact  that  that  day  was  observed  for 
Christian  worship  is  to  us  a  sufficient  precedent  to  warrant 
us  in  also  doing  so.  But  what  I  wish  to  notice  here  is,  that 
the  Sabbath  was  not  a  Jewish  institution.  Many  persons 
say  it  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  law  of  Levi ;  but  here 
w^e  find  the  Sabbath  observed  before  the  giving  of  the  ten 
commandments  or  the  rites  of  Levi ;  here  we  have  the 
Sabbath  recognized,  not  as  a  thing  then  first  instituted,  but 
as  an  observance  that  had  been  from  the  beginning  ;  and 
though  it  had  been  interrupted  in  Egypt,  as  in  all  proba- 
bility it  was,  yet  the  instant  they  were  emancipated  from 
the  thraldom  of  Pharaoh,  that  instant  the  Sabbath  resumed 
its  place,  and  was  regarded  with  all  its  wonted  sacredness. 

And  we  find  that  they  who  went  out  to  gather  manna  on 
the  Sabbath  expended  their  strength  for  nought,  wdiilst  those 
who  gathered  double  on  the  Friday,  found  that  they  had 
suflficient  on  the  Sabbath  without  any  working.  And 
you  will  find  still  that  if  you  w^ant  a  horse  to  do  the 
greatest  work,  you  must  give  him  one  day  to  rest  on. 
Whether  the  horse  rest  on  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth, 


136  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

fifth,  sixtli,  or  seventh  day  is  of  no  consequence,  but  he  is  en- 
titled to  one  day  out  of  seven.  And  you  will  find  that  if  a 
man  work  seven  days  at  the  same  employment,  his  life  will 
not  last  so  long,  nor  will  he  be  able  to  do  his  work  so  well, 
as  if  he  works  only  six  days.  God  seems  to  have  struck 
the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  into  the  very  nature  of  man  ; 
for  we  find  that  there  is  not  a  single  nation  in  the  world  that 
has  not  a  day  of  rest.  The  heathens  had  weeks  of  seven 
days,  an  artificial  division,  and  evidently  the  remains  of  a 
primitive  tradition.  And  when  the  French  in  1793  tried  to 
have  Decades,  or  a  Sabbath  on  each  tenth  day,  in  order  to 
expunge  every  vestige  of  Christianity,  human  nature  rose 
true  to  its  aboriginal  instincts,  and  reverted  again  to  the 
seventh  day,  as  if  man  could  not  live  happy  or  peaceable 
without  the  Sabbath  day. 

We  then  read  that  the  children  of  Israel  enjoyed  this 
manna  forty  years,  until  th3y  reached  the  land  of  Canaan ; 
then  it  ceased.     Means  last  till  the  end  comes. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

THE  NEAREST  WAT.  MURMURING.  THIRST.  DIVINE  GOODNESS. 
THE  ROCK.  REPHIDIM.  WAR,  PRAYER,  AND  BATTLE.  THE 
GLORY   OF    THE   VICTORY. 

It  seems  to  us  at  times  inexplicable  how  God  should  lead 
his  people  into  difficulties  that  appear  to  have  accumulated 
the  more  nearly  they  approached  the  land  of  promise,  which 
was  the  burden  of  all  their  hopes,  and  the  culminating  issue 
of  all  their  expectations.  It  would  se-em  that  God  had 
some  great  sanctifying,  or  at  least  useful,  design  in  his  thus 
leading  the  children  of  Israel,  not  by  the  straight  route  into 
Canaan  from  the  midst  of  Egypt,  but  by  a  most  circuitous 
one  —  one  so  circuitous,  so  zigzag,  that  one  cannot  but  infer 
it  must  have  been  so  appointed  of  God  for  some  special  and 
wise  purpose.  Yet  this  explains  what  frequently  is  the  case 
in  individual  life.  God  leads  the  blind  in  a  way  that  they 
know  not.  What  seems  to  us  a  roundabout  way  will  be 
found  in  the  end  really  the  nearest ;  for  invariably,  not  what 
seems  to  us,  but  what  God  himself  strikes  out,  is  the  shortest 
way  to  any  given  issue. 

We  read  in  the  previous  chapter  that  the  children  of  Is- 
rael were  almost  starved  for  want  of  bread,  and  that  God  in 
answer  to  their  murmuring  prayers,  forgiving  the  unbelief,  and 
listening  to  the  cry  that  it  embosomed,  gave  them,  or  rained 
upon  tliem,  bread  from  heaven.  We  now  find  that  they  had 
no  sooner  been  miraculously  fed  than  they  were  thirsty  and 
needed  a  miraculous  supply  of  water  for  drink  ;  and  God 
12* 


138  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

again  stepped  in,  forgiving  the  unbelief,  and  pitying  the 
wants,  however  sinfully  uttered,  of  his  children,  and  like  a 
beneficent  Father,  in  spite  of  their  sins,  he  opened  his  hand 
and  satisfied  all  their  desires.  When  there  was  no  Avater  to 
drink  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  very  near,  probably,  to  Mount 
Sinai,  and  in  the  valley  of  Rej)hidim,  a  very  bleak  and  desert 
glen,  the  people,  instead  of  remembering  the  mercies  that  had 
strewed  their  path  in  the  past,  and  how  often  Omnipotence 
had  interposed  for  them  —  at  one  time  by  means  of  a  branch 
making  bitter  water  sweet  —  at  another  time  opening  the 
great  deep  itself,  and  making  it  a  promenade  for  his  people, 
whilst  it  was  a  grave  for  his  foes ;  and  again,  raining  down 
manna  from  the  very  clouds  of  heaven,  rather  than  that  his 
own  should  want  for  a  little  bread  —  instead  of  thinking  that 
this  good  God,  whose  beneficence  was  only  equalled  by  his 
omnipotence,  would  again  surely  interpose,  and  give  them 
water,  they  fell  upon  Moses,  and  asked  him  to  give  them 
water  to  drink,  as  if  he  were  God.  The  people  went  to  the 
priest,  instead  of  to  the  God  of  the  priest;  they  looked  to 
the  instrument  instead  of  raising  their  hearts  beyond  him, 
and  exercising  the  privilege  of  asking  a  supply  from  the 
Blessed  Master.  They  said  to  Moses,  "  Give  us  water  that 
we  may  drink."  And  Moses  said  unto  them,  "  Why  chide 
ye  -vvitli  me  ?  "  I  am  not  God  ;  w^hy  should  you  be  so  unbe- 
lieving and  forgetful  ?  "  Wherefore  do  ye  tempt  the  Lord  ?  " 
But  the  people  thirsted  for  w^ater,  and,  therefore,  they  still 
murmured  against  Moses;  and  the  craven  and  miserable 
slaves,  bowed  down  by  their  thraldom  in  Egypt,  and  scarcely 
able  to  think  a  free  thought,  or  to  indulge  the  hopes  of  free 
men,  said,  "  Wherefore  is  this  that  thou  hast  brought  us  up 
out  of  Egypt,  to  kill  us,  and  our  children,  and  our  cattle  with 
thirst  ?  "  How  strange  a  phenomenon  is  man  !  He  is  inex- 
plicable except  in  the  light  of  God's  Holy  AYord ;  and  this 
picture  is  not  an  ancient,  obsolete  sketch,  but  it  is  you,  it  is 
I,  it  is  all  in  the  nineteenth  century  ;  for  human  nature  is  now 


EXODUS    XVII.  139 

what  human  nature  was  then  ;  and  if  there  be  a  difference, 
give  the  glory  to  the  grace  of  God,  not  to  the  sceptic 
prophesied  perfectionism  and  progress  of  humanity,  as  it  is 
called. 

Moses,  instead  of  answering  them  severely,  cried  unto  the 
Lord  —  the  minister  at  his  wits'  end  laying  low  every  spirit 
of  retaliation,  and  showing  the  weakness  that  became  him 
—  "What  shall  I  do  unto  this  people?  they  be  almost 
ready  to  stone  me."  One  would  have  expected,  if  God's 
ways  had  been  our  ways,  that  He  would  have  instantly 
poured  out  judgments  upon  such  a  people  ;  but  what  an  ex- 
ample is  there  here  for  a  magistrate,  or  for  a  ruler  !  God 
bears  and  forbears  with  them,  gives  them  miracle  upon 
miracle,  and  ever  as  they  murmured,  another  miracle  still. 
Truly  judgment  is  his  strange  work.  He  might  have  re- 
taliated, retribution  was  richly  deserved  ;  it  was  most  deeply 
provoked ;  but  instead  of  doing  so,  He  whose  ways  are  not 
our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts  our  thoughts,  said  unto  Moses, 
"  Go  on  before  the  people,  and  take  with  thee  of  the  elders 
of  Israel ;  and  thy  rod,  wherewith  thou  smotest  the  river  " 
in  Egypt,  and  turned  it  into  blood,  "  take  in  thy  hand  and 
go.  Behold,  I  will "  do  what  ?  Not  smite  the  people  with 
the  rod  that  smote  all  Egypt,  and  that  in  my  hand  is  still 
capable  of  terrible  effect ;  but  I  will  make  the  rod  that  was 
the  executor  of  judgment  upon  Egypt  to  be  only  the  opener 
of  springs  and  fountains  in  the  rock,  for  what  was  death  to 
others  shall  be  life  to  Israel.  "  Thou  shalt  smite  the  rock," 
the  most  unlikely  thing,  "  and  there  shall  come  water  out  of 
it,  that  the  people  may  drink."  How  gracious  is  the  Lord  ! 
and  like  us,  he  is  still  the  same.  If  He  had  dealt  Avith  us 
as  our  sins  deserved,  we  should  have  been  cut  off;  but  He 
delights  in  mercy.  Oh !  that  we  could  only  realize  that 
beautiful  thought,  that  God  has  infinitely  more  than  a  father's 
love  with  omnipotence  to  wield  it,  and  omniscience  to  see 
where,  when,  and  by  whom  it  is  most  needed  '■>  and  ever 


140  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ready,  ever  waiting,  ever  willing  to  bless !  I  could  easily 
engage  to  persuade  all  London  that  God  is  a  wrathful  and 
revengeful  tyrant,  ready  to  punish  all  men  :  and  I  could 
easily  induce  them  to  undergo  any  penance  or  process  that 
would  be  said  to  propitiate  his  wrath  ;  but  the  ditficulty  is 
to  persuade  men  that  God  is  a  Father,  that  we  are  welcome 
to  nestle  in  his  bosom,  and  to  feel  the  happiness  of  reconciled 
children  ;  that  he  waits  to  receive  us,  and  continues  still  to 
pity  us. 

We  read  that  Moses,  as  a  memorial  of  Israel's  sins, 
"  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah,  and  Meribah,  because 
of  the  chiding  of  the  children  of  Israel."  I  have  been  read- 
ing the  accounts  given  by  travellers  of  the  valley  of  Rephi- 
dim  ;  and  I  find  that  they  unanimously  testify  to  the  pres- 
ence of  a  rock  remaining  geographically  just  about  the  place 
that  is  indicated  in  the  Scriptural  account,  and  having  such 
unequivocal  traces  of  a  miraculous  structure  and  character, 
that  they  are  all  persuaded  that  i^  is  the  very  rock  that  was 
smitten  by  the  rod  of  Moses.  I  quote  the  leading  facts  stated 
by  Pocock,  Shaw,  and  Dr.  Olin  of  America.  It  is  a  red 
granite  rock,  fifteen  feet  long,  ten  feet  wide,  and  twelve  feet 
high;  there  are  huge  fissures  or  rents  in  it,  and  these  fissures 
are  not  perpendicular,  as  we  might  expect  if  it  had  been  an 
accidental  rending,  but  horizontal.  They  are  two  or  three 
inches  in  breadth,  and  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  in  length, 
and  of  such  a  strange  character,  that  it  is  impossible  to  ex- 
plain their  existence,  except  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
rock  is  the  very  one  struck  by  the  rod  of  Moses.  The  Be- 
douins and  Arabs  in  the  desert  have  a  tradition  respecting 
it  confirmatory  of  the  Scriptural  account ;  and  although  I 
would  not  attach  much  weight  to  tradition,  yet,  when  con- 
nected with  the  biblical  history,  it  may  have  some  value. 
They  call  the  rock  "  the  stone  of  Moses ; "  and  the  last 
American  traveller,  Dr.  Olin,  thus  describes  it,  "  This  stone 
made  more   impression  upon  me  than  any  natural  object 


EXODUS    XVII.  141 

claiming  to  attest  a  miracle  ever  did.  Had  any  enlightened 
geologist,  utterly  ignorant  of  the  miracle  of  Moses,  passed 
up  this  ravine  and  seen  the  rock  as  it  now  is,  he  would  luive 
declared,  though  the  position  of  the  stone  and  the  present 
condition  of  the  country  around  should  have  opposed  any 
such  impression,  that  strong  and  long  continued  fountains  of 
water  had  once  poured  their  gurgling  currents  from  it  and 
over  it.  He  could  not  waver  in  his  belief  for  a  moment,  so 
natural  and  so  perfect  are  the  indications.  I  examined  it 
thoroughly,  and  if  it  be  a  forgery,  I  am  satisfied  for  my  own 
part  that  a  greater  than  Michael  Angelo  designed  and  exe- 
cuted it.  I  cannot  differ  from  Shaw's  opinion,  that  neither 
art  nor  chance  could  by  any  means  be  concerned  in  the 
contrivance  of  these  holes,  which  formed  so  many  fountains. 
The  more  I  gazed  upon  the  irregular  mouth-like  chasms 
in  the  rock,  the  more  I  felt  my  scepticism  shaken,  and  at 
last  I  could  not  help  asking  myself  whether  it  was  not  a 
very  natural  solution  of  the  matter,  that  this  was  indeed  the 
rock  which  Moses  struck,  that  from  it  the  waters  gushed 
forth,  and  poured  their  streams  down  Wady  Leja  to  Wady- 
esh-Sheikh,  along  it  to  Rephidim,  where  Israel  was  en- 
camped, perishing  with  thirst."  In  Finden's  "  Illustrations 
of  the  Bible,"  edited  by  Hartwell  Home,  you  will  find  en- 
gravings of  the  rock ;  and  all  seem  with  one  consent  to 
concur  in  the  belief  that  it  is  the  very  granite  rock  that  was 
smitten  by  the  rod  of  Moses,  and  that  these  horizontal 
fissures,  so  peculiar  in  their  character,  give  proof  by  their 
rounded  lips,  that  water  must  have  gushed  from  them  for 
many  years. 

We  then  read  that  Amalek  met  Israel,  and  opposed  them. 
You  will  observe,  that  in  one  case  God  discomfits  his  foes 
by  a  miracle,  and  in  another  case  by  ordinary  means.  Now 
here,  when  Amalek  opposed  the  children  of  Israel,  God  might 
have  caused  the  earth  to  swallow  them  up,  just  as  the  ocean 
swallowed  up  the  Egyptians  ;  but  instead  of  that  he  author- 


142  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

ized  Moses  to  act  the  part  of  intercessor,  as  tlie  type  of  the 
great  Prophet  like  unto  him,  that  is  Christ ;  and  He  com- 
manded Joshua  to  do  the  part  of  the  warrior,  and  do  battle 
on  behalf  of  Israel.  Some  people  whom  I  meet,  and  others 
from  whom  I  receive  letters,  think  that  w^ar  is  positively 
unlawful,  and  that  no  Christian  nation  may  in  any  case 
engage  in  it ;  and  I  am  even  told  by  some,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  suppose  a  soldier  to  be  a  Christian.  I  can  con- 
ceive nothing  more  monstrous  than  such  an  opinion :  for 
here  is  an  express  command  from  God,  when  a  miracle 
might  have  dispensed  with  the  uecessity,  to  Joshua  to  be  a 
commander-in-chief,  and  to  Moses  to  be  a  wrestling  pleader 
on  behalf  of  the  victory  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  it  is 
a  singular  fact  that  the  most  distinguished  Christians  in  the 
New  Testament  were  many  of  them  soldiers.  There  may, 
therefore,  be  in  a  hero's  composition  a  sensitive  and  sus- 
ceptible Christian  heart.  We  know  it  has  been  so,  and  we 
cannot  see  why  it  should  not  be  so.  And  I  am  quite  sure 
that  the  courts  of  law  and  chancery  have  been  the  scenes  of 
more  broken  and  bleeding  hearts  than  all  the  battle  fields  of 
Europe.  If,  therefore,  it  be  sinful  to  be  a  soldier,  it  must 
be  yet  no  less  so  to  be  a  lawyer ;  but  it  is  not  sinful  to  be 
either,  because  necessary  to  the  existence  of  society ;  each 
has  his  duty,  and  each  as  a  Christian  may  fulfil  it. 

From  the  part  that  Moses  acted  in  this  transaction  you 
can  see  that  the  battle  depended  partly  upon  the  valor  of 
Joshua,  but  very  much  upon  the  interceding  or  lifting  up  of 
the  hands  of  Moses.  Now  Moses,  we  are  told,  was  expressly 
a  type  of  Christ ;  and  this  is  intended  to  teach  us  that  in  de- 
fensive warfare,  for  I  am  not  vspeaking  of  aggressive  war, 
battles  are  gained  by  nations  as  much  through  the  interced- 
ing prayers  of  the  people  at  home,  as  by  the  skill  and 
bravery  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field.  We  have  here  the  bat- 
tle going  against  Israel  when  Moses  ceased  to  supplicate, 
and  we  have  Joshua  victorious  when  Moses  continued  to  do 


EXODUS    XVII.  143 

so.  But  Moses  was  an  intercessor  whose  arms  might  be- 
come weary,  and  whose  strength  might  be  exhausted  ;  but 
we  have  a  great  High  Priest,  who  has  passed  into  the 
heavens,  who  is  more  touched  with  the  feeHng  of  our  infirmi- 
ties than  ever  Moses  was,  and  who  is  ever  willing,  and, 
what  Moses  was  not,  ever  able  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

But  when  victorious,  did  Joshua  say,  "  I  give  all  the  glory 
to  my  own  good  sword,  to  my  stratagems,  or  to  the  heroism 
of  my  troops  ?  "  No  ;  but  when  the  battle  was  finished,  and 
when  victory  was  perched  upon  his  banners,  he  gave  the 
glory,  not  to  himself,  his  shield,  his  sword,  or  his  soldiers, 
but  he  built  upon  the  field  an  altar,  and  he  inscribed  upon 
it  the  truly  Protestant  inscription,  "  Jehovah-nissi  "  —  not 
Joshua,  not  valor,  not  skill,  not  chance,  but  the  Lord  is  our 
banner,  and  while  ours  is  the  benefit,  his  be  all  the  glory  of 
the  victory. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THIS   CHAPTER  AN   EPISODE.      EARLY    COURTESY  AND    HOSPITALITY. 
JETIIRO'S    GOOD    ADVICE.      THE    CABINET    OF   MOSES. 

In  the  previous  chapter,  read  last  Sunday  morning,  we 
had  laid  before  us  an  account  of  the  unhappy  murmurings 
of  tlie  children  of  Israel,  because  there  seemed  to  them  no 
prospect  of  water.  "VVe  read  also  of  God's  miraculous  sup- 
ply from  the  rock  struck  by  the  rod  of  Moses,  which  gushed 
forth  refreshing  streams  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  a  people  that 
murmured  when  they  were  in  want,  were  unthankful  when 
they  had  plenty,  and  assuredly  deserved  none  of  the  great 
and  unrivalled  mercies  which  had  been  poured  upon  them 
and  followed  them  day  by  day. 

The  chapter  I  have  now  read  has  been  supposed  by  the 
most  competent  interpreters  of  the  Book  to  be  a  sort  of  in- 
terlude, or  episode ;  because  there  are  in  it  indications  which 
show  that  the  occurrence  recorded  in  the  chapter  must  have 
taken  place  after  Israel  had  reached  Sinai,  and  heard  the 
Law,  and  not  before  they  had  arrived  at  that  Mount,  and 
received  the  statutes  and  ordinances  of  God.  The  first 
reason  assigned  for  this  is  the  allusion  in  this  chapter  to 
burnt- offerings  and  sacrifices,  which  were  not  yet  instituted 
according  to  the  Law  of  Moses.  There  is  also  reference 
clearly  to  a  state  of  things  which  indicates  national  organi- 
zation, and  not  the  nomadic  state  in  which  the  Israelites 
were  in  the  desert.  And  on  looking  at  the  chapter  which 
succeeds  this,  we  sec  plainly  that  the  19th  is  the  proper  con- 


EXODUS    XVIII.  145 

tinuation  of  the  17th  chapter,  and  that  tlicrefore  this  18th 
chapter  is  introduced  in  an  earlier  phice,  though  it  alhi(l(-s 
to  a  later  event,  from  the  single  fact  that  Jethro  came  from 
among  the  Amalekites,  against  whom  Josliua  waged  success- 
ful warfare  as  written  in  the  preceding  chapter;  and  as  the 
historian  was  speaking  of  the  destruction  of  the  Amalekites, 
it  seemed  to  him  proper  and  natural  to  state  that  Jethro  his 
father-in-law  was  one  of  those  beautiful  exceptions  which, 
like  flowers  in  the  wilderness,  or  like  oases  in  the  desert,  are 
found  in  the  Avorst  and  most  degraded  population  of  the 
globe.  This  alone  accounts  for  this  episode  appearing  in 
this  place,  containing  allusions  to  events,  rites,  and  ceremo- 
nies of  subsequent  occurrence. 

What  will  strike  most  readers  here  is,  the  beautiful  cour- 
tesy exhibited  by  Jethro  and  Moses  when  they  met  together. 
There  is  something  beautiful  in  the  forms  of  courtesy,  and 
when  they  are  the  channels  of  real  and  Christian  feeling, 
they  become  not  only  beautiful,  but  even  sacred.  There  is 
given  also  in  this  chapter  some  description  of  primitive  hos- 
pitality and  Christian  love,  friendship,  and  good-will,  when 
Moses  took  his  father-in-law  into  the  tent,  his  only  palace, 
and  set  bread  before  him,  and  they  both  thanked  God  for 
the  mercies  of  the  past,  recognized  his  hand,  and  expected, 
as  they  justly  might,  his  blessing  for  the  future. 

We  have  in  Jethro  an  instance  of  what  is  really  so  rare, 
though  pronounced  so  plentiful,  —  intense  common  sense. 
The  remarks  of  Jethro  are  so  strikingly  sensible  that  they 
commend  themselves  to  every  man's  mind,  and  indicate  not 
only  inspiration,  but  that  which  is  nearer  to  it  than  genius, 
a  rightly  balanced,  prudent,  enlightened,  discreet,  and  reflect- 
ing mind.  But  no  doubt  Jethro  was  guided  by  God  to  give 
Moses  so  prudent  and  sensible  advice  ;  for  the  language  that 
Jethro  employed  indicates  that  he  w^as  the  subject  of  deej) 
and  experimental  acquaintance  with  the  Gospel  itself.  The 
first  topic  of  conversation  was  not  earthly  subjects  at  all, 


146  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

but,  "  Moses  told  his  fatlier-in-law  all  that  the  Lord  had  done 
unto  Pliaraoh  and  to  the  Egyptians  for  Israel's  sake,  and 
all  the  travail  that  had  come  upon  them  by  the  way,  and  how 
the  Lord  delivered  them."  And  then  Jethro,  hearing  the 
narrative  of  Moses,  broke  forth  into  appropriate  song,  and 
said :  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  hath  delivered  you  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  Egyptians,  and  out  of  the  hand  of  Pharaoh. 
And  now  I  know  by  experimental  proof,  what  I  believed 
before,  that  Jehovah  is  greater  than  all  the  idols  of  the 
world,  and  that  in  those  very  things  where  they  dealt 
proudly,"  that  is,  where  they  counted  upon  success  from  the 
greatness  of  their  strength,  "  there  God  has  had  and  will 
have  the  preeminence." 

We  then  read  of  the  advice  which  Jethro  gave  to  Moses, 
his  son-in-law,  which  Moses  accepted  as  fitted  to  lighten  the 
load  that  was  upon  his  shoulders,  and  probably  to  do  more 
substantial  justice  to  the  different  causes  which  were  sub- 
mitted to  him.  Jethro  said,  "  This  will  wear  you  away ; 
your  physical  strength  cannot  bear  it  —  getting  up  early  in 
the  morning,  and  remaining  till  late  at  night,  having  the 
cares  of  a  general,  all  the  delicate  oflices  of  a  Judge,  and  all 
the  sacred  functions  of  a  priest.  It  is  quite  impossible  that 
one  man's  shoulders  can  bear  the  load  ;  and  if  it  be  not  sinful 
to  distribute  it,  it  is  right  to  see  whether  it  cannot  be  done." 
And  therefore,  "  the  old  man  eloquent "  with  large  experi- 
ence, and  wisdom  from  on  high  to  direct  him,  said,  "  Hearken 
now  unto  my  voice,  I  will  give  thee  counsel,  and  God  shall 
be  with  thee :  Be  thou  for  the  people  to  Godward,  as  thou 
hast  always  been,  that  thou  mayest  bring  the  causes  unto 
God,  as  thou  hast  always  done.  You  are  under  a  special 
guidance ;  therefore,  dutiful  to  yourself,  obedient  to  God, 
beneficial  to  the  people,  take,  as  becomes  you,  the  head,  be 
the  chief  one ;  and  you  shall  teach  them  ordinances  and 
laws,  and  show  them  the  way  wherein  they  must  walk,  and 
the  work  that  they  must  do.     Moreover,  thou  shalt  provide 


EXODUS    XYIII.  147 

out  of  nil  the  peoi)le  able  men,  assessors,  elders,  sucli  as  fear 
God,  men  of  truth,  hating  covetousness ;  and  place  such 
over  them,  to  be  rulers  of  thousands,  and  rulers  of  hundreds, 
rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens.  Make  them  subordi- 
nate judges  to  judge  the  people.  And  then  in  matters  that 
need  a  great  man  to  decide  them,  let  them  come  before  you ; 
but  in  subordinate  matters,  where  good  sense  and  piety  will 
form  a  proper  judgment,  then  let  them  be  taken  by  these 
assessors."  These  men,  you  observe,  were  not  priests 
selected  from  the  order  of  Aaron,  but  they  were  laymen 
selected  from  the  crowd,  not  because  they  were  rich  or  dis- 
tingnished  in  rank,  but  because  they  were  able  men,  who 
feared  God,  loved  truth,  and  hated  covetousness. 

Moses,  instead  of  being  self-willed,  and  thinking  that  he 
did  not  need  advice,  since  he  must  know  more  than  his  old 
father-in-law  could  be  expected  to  know  from  his  circum- 
stances, hearkened  to  the  advice  of  his  father-in-law,  and 
did  all  that  he  said,  and  chose  these  people ;  and  the  con- 
sequence was,  that  there  was  peace,  order,  and  prosperity  in 
the  camp,  and  a  great  mitigation  of  tlie  toils  and  drudgery 
of  Moses.  It  needs  talent  to  take  good  advice  as  much  as 
to  give  it.  And  Jethro  his  father-in-law  went  away  happy 
to  hnd  that  he  had  a  son  who  was  accessible  to  good  advice, 
and  Moses  bade  him  farewell,  thankful  to  God  that  he  had 
a  father-in-law  able  to  give  him  such  sensible  counsel. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE    LAW     EXPRESSED     NOT     CREATED      ON     SINAI.        ST.     PAUl'S 
COMMENTARY.      DESCRIPTIONS   OF    SINAI. 

The  scene  represented  in  the  chapter  I  have  read,  so 
full  of  solemn  and  awful  grandeur,  was  designed  to  impress 
upon  the  whole  people  of  Israel,  and  through  them  upon  us, 
the  holiness,  majesty,  and  greatness  of  that  Law  which  was 
not  made,  but  expressed  and  worded  by  God,  upon  Mount 
Sinai.  It  is  altogether  an  error  to  su])pose  that  the  Law  is 
to  be  dated  from  Mount  Sinai.  This  Law  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments, which  was  delivered  from  the  Mount,  ever  was, 
now  is,  and  ever  will  be  ;  and  all  that  was  done  upon  Mount 
Sinai  was,  to  give  expression  to  everlasting  truth,  to  make 
audible  God's  innermost  mind,  and  to  show  by  distinct  and 
Unequivocal  expressions  what  man's  duty  was,  and  ^^  hat  the 
extent  of  God's  requirement  is,  and  to  enable  the  creature 
at  the  same  time  to  feel  that  no  man  can  climb  to  heaven  by 
that  Mount ;  that  the  gap  between  a  fallen  creature  and  the 
exaction  of  a  holy  God  is  so  great,  that,  in  the  language  of 
the  apostle,  "  by  deeds  of  law  no  flesh  can  be  justified." 
You  will  find  this  contrast  very  beautifully  brought  out 
by  the  apostle  in  a  passage  perfectly  parallel,  and  while 
it  is  parallel,  the  most  illustrative  comment  on  it,  in  the 
12lh  chapter  of  the  p4)istle  to  the  Hebrews,  at  the  18th 
verse,  where  he  contrasts  what  the  Jews  were  with  what 
Christians  arc  —  the  slavery,  the  fear,  the  terror  of  the 
ancient  economy  with  the  freedom,  privileges,  and  blessings 
of  the  new.     "  For  ye  "  —  that  is,  ye  Christians  —  "  are  not 


EXODUS    XIX.  149 

come  unto  the  mount  that  might  be  touched  "  —  that  is,  to  a 
material  mount  —  ye  are  come  unto  one  that  is  higher  and 
spiritual,  and  seen  by  faith;  "and  that  burned  with  fire," 
the  indication  of  terror  and  judgment ;  "  nor  unto  blackness, 
and  darkness,  and  tempest,  and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and 
the  voice  of  words ;  which  voice  they  that  heard  entreated 
that  the  word  should  not  be  spoken  unto  them  any  more ; 
for  they  could  not  endure  that  which  was  commanded.  And 
if  so  much  as  a  beast  touch  the  mountain,  it  shall  be  stoned, 
or  thrust  through  with  a  dart :  and  so  terrible  was  the  sight, 
that  Moses  "  —  the  meek  Moses,  the  temporary  and  typical 
mediator  between  God  and  them  —  "said,  I  exceedingly 
fear  and  quake."  That  was  the  state  of  the  ancient  econ- 
omy ;  that  is,  people  about  Mount  Sinai  shrouded  in  dark- 
ness, lighted  at  intervals  only  by  a  lurid  flame,  the  air  ever 
ringing  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  the  reverberations 
of  thunder  —  all  the  grandeur  and  magnificence  of  heaven, 
without  its  mercy  and  love,  resting,  like  a  black  cloud 
charged  Vv'ith  judgments,  over  the  head  of  a  people  whose 
consciences  within  condemned  them,  as  well  as  the  scenes 
without,  and  who  felt  they  never  could  obey  so  perfect,  holy, 
and  pure  a  law.  But  what  is  our  privilege  ?  The  whole 
scene  is  changed  ;  the  curtain  is  lifted ;  w^e  have  passed  by 
Christ,  the  mediator,  the  living  way,  into  a  very  diiferent 
state  of  things.  We  have  left  the  region  of  storm  and 
thunder,  and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  for  the  region  of 
peace,  of  love,  of  fatherly  and  cordial  welcome  ;  for,  says 
the  apostle,  "  Ye  Christians  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion," 
whose  head  is  bathed  in  the  sunshine  of  heaven,  "  and  unto 
the  city  of  the  living  God ;  "  not  the  desert  hill  without  an 
inhabitant,  but  unto  a  city  that  hath  foundations,  the  city  of 
the  living  God :  as  if  he  wished  the  Gentile,  as  well  as  the 
Jew,  to  learn  a  lesson ;  for  every  ancient  city  was  called 
after  one  of  the  gods  —  Athens  was  the  city  of  Minerva, 
and  Rome  was  the  city  of  Mars,  but  these  were  dead  gods 


150  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  idols;  but  "ye  are  come  unto  the  city  of  the  living 
God"  —  who  ever  liveth  —  "the  heavenly  Jerusalem." 
Recollect  the  meaning  of  the  word  "Jerusalem;"  it  is 
Yenisalem,  the  Vision  of  Peace.  Ye  are  come,  not  unto 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet  and  the  voice  of  words,  but  unto 
that  bright  and  beautiful  vision  of  celestial  peace,  prepared 
and  purchased  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant. God  makes  Mount  Sion  and  Mount  Sinai,  not  com- 
parison at  all,  but  absolute  contrast.  And  ye  are  come  also 
"to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,"  not  to  worship 
them,  but  to  have  them  to  serve  you ;  for  angels  are  minis- 
tering spirits  to  the  heirs  of  salvation.  And  ye  are  come  to 
"  the  general  assembly,"  or  "  the  catholic  company,"  as  it 
might  be  rendered,  "  and  church  of  the  first-born "  —  not 
the  sect  at  Rome,  nor  the  sect  at  Geneva,  nor  the  sect  at 
Canterbury,  but  the  whole  assembly  of  all  true  Christians  of 
every  name  scattered  throughout  the  whole  world,  whose 
robes  have  been  washed  in  atoning  blood,  and  wdiose  hearts 
have  been  renew^ed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  who  are  more 
anxious  to  belong  to  the  Saviour  than  to  any  section  in  par- 
ticular of  the  Church.  And  again,  ye  are  come  to  "  God  the 
Judge  of  all,"  —  but,  blessed  be  the  thought,  while  he  is  our 
Judge,  also  our  Father,  —  "and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect."  We  come  to  them  now  by  faith.  Where 
is  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  ?  Some  are  in  heaven  ;  some 
are  on  earth  ;  but  the  company  in  heaven  and  on  earth  con- 
stitute one  ransomed,  redeemed,  and  glorious  Church  ;  and 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  those  who  are  separated  from 
us  are  much  nearer  to  us  than  our  own  immediate  relatives 
and  friends  who  are  in  the  next  parish,  or  town,  or  across 
the  Channel,  or  on  the  Continent  of  Europe.  True,  we  do 
not  see  them.  True,  we  are  not  to  pray  to  Ihem.  True, 
they  cannot,  probably,  serve  us ;  but  in  Scrii)ture  it  seems 
almost  stated  that  the  saints  in  glory,  like  a  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses, are  spectators  of  our  conflicts  uj)on  earth,  and  are 


EXODUS   XIX.  151 

watching  witli  an  interest  tliat  no  language  of  ours  can  em- 
body, the  results  of  a  struggle  on  which  is  contingent  ever- 
lasting joy  and  felicity  in  heaven.  And  we  are  come,  as  if 
to  crown  all,  to  "  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant." 
and  if  we  be  surrounded,  let  me  add,  by  such  a  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses, let  me  remind  you  of  that  beautiful  thought  of  the 
apostle,  "  Wherefore,  seeing  we  are  compassed  about  with 
so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,"  what  are  we  to  do  ?  Worship 
them  ?  No.  Pray  to  them  ?  No  ;  but  "  let  us  lay  aside 
every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and 
let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  look- 
ing,"—  not  to  the  witnesses,  but,  as  it  is  in  the  Greek, — 
"  looking  from  them  unto  Jesus "  —  the  IMediator  of  the 
new  covenant  —  "and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that  speak- 
eth  better  things  than  that  of  Abel."  Such,  then,  is  the 
New  Testament  comment  on  the  impressive  and  solemn 
chapter  I  have  read — a  chapter  that  constitutes  the  preface 
to  the  giving  of  the  Law  on  Mount  Sinai  as  recorded  in  the 
chapter  that  follows. 

Then  God  tells  the  people  that  the  object  of  all  his  dis- 
pensations was  that  they  might  obey  his  law,  and  enjoy  the 
happiness  that  grows  upon  true  holiness ;  and  that  if  they 
would  obey  His  voice,  then  they  should  be  a  peculiar  treas- 
ure. That  which  a  man  values  most  he  regards  as  his  pe- 
culiar treasure.  "  Ye  shall  be  to  me  a  kingdom  of  priests," 
or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  "  kings  and 
priests  ; "  or,  as  Peter  calls  it,  "  a  royal  priesthood."  That 
is  now  fulfilled.  All  Christians  are  priests.  A  minister  of 
the  Gospel  is  not  a  priest  in  any  sense  in  which  the  hum- 
blest layman  in  the  congregation  is  not.  There  are  insti- 
tuted officially  in  the  New  Testament  economy  bishops,  or 
pastors,  or  evangelists,  or  presbyters,  or  teachers,  or  what- 
ever other  epithet  you  choose  from  Scripture  to  apply  to 
them  ;  but  there  is  no  such  ofiicer  in  the  Christian  economy 
as  a  sacrificing  priest.    The  reason  is,  that  when  the  ancient 


152  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

economy  passed  away,  Christ,  the  everlasting  high  priest, 
shadowed  forth  by  the  priests  of  Levi,  came,  and  he  has 
now,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  a7rapa;3/3a- 
Tov  ieparevfia,  "an  intransferable  priesthood,"  Hebrews  vii. 
24  —  a  priesthood  that  does  not  pass  from  him  to  any 
one  whatever.  All  Christians  are  priests,  and  yet  they  are 
not  all  evangelists,  pastors,  or  ministers.  But,  you  say,  we 
must,  then,  have  something  to  offer.  Certainly  —  "I  be- 
seech you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that 
ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service,"  Romans  xii.  1. 
"  To  do  good  and  to  communicate,  forget  not :  for  with  such 
sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased,"  Hebrews  xiii.  16.  You 
offer  spiritual  sacrifices  on  Christ,  the  altar  that  sanctities 
the  gift,  acceptable  to  God  for  his  sake. 

Next,  he  tells  Moses  that  the  people  should  not  touch  the 
mount,  but  that  at  certain  periods,  when  the  trumpet  should 
sound,  long  there  should  be  some  communion  with  Moses 
and  Aaron  for  the  enlightenment  and  instruction  of  the 
people.  It  seems  that  the  expression  used  in  the  21st 
verse,  "  The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,"  should  be,  "  The  Lord 
had  said  unto  Closes,  Go  down,  charge  the  people,  lest  they 
break  through  unto  the  Lord  to  gaze,  and  many  of  them 
perish.  And  let  the  priests  also,  wliich  come  near  to  the 
Lord,  sanctify  themselves,"  alluding  to  what  he  had  said, 
and  not  specifying  something  then  for  the  first  time. 

Tliere  has  been  a  great  deal  of  dispute  about  tlie  situation 
of  Mount  Sinai,  and  whether  it  can  be  identified  at  tlie 
present  day.  Bush  in  his  "  Notes "  gives  the  following 
remarks :  "  The  breadth  of  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  is  inter- 
sected by  a  chain  of  mountains  called  '  El  Tib,'  which  run 
from  east  to  west,  and  cut  off  a  triangular  portion  of  the 
peninsula  on  tlie  south,  in  the  very  centre  of  which  occurs 
the  elevated  grouj)  of  mountains  where  the  Sinai  of  the 
Bible  is  to  be  souirht.     This  mountainous  rcirion,  with  its 


EXODUS    XTX.  ].")3 

various  valleys  and  ravines  of  different  dimensions,  may  be 
described  as  being  comprehended  within  a  diameter  of  about 
forty  miles.  Its  general  aspect  is  singularly  wild  and  dreary, 
being  composed  almost  entirely  of  naked  rocks  and  craggy 
precipices,  interspersed  with  narrow  sandy  defiles,  which 
from  being  seldom  refreshed  with  rain  are  almost  entirely 
destitute  of  vegetation.  Fountains  and  springs  of  water  are 
found  only  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  group,  on  which 
account  they  are  the  place  of  refuge  of  all  the  Bedouins, 
when  the  low  country  is  parched  up.  From  all  accounts  it 
is  difficult  to  imagine  a  scene  more  desolate  and  ten-ific  than 
that  which  constitutes  this  range."  A  recent  traveller  (Sir 
F.  Henniker)  describes  it  "  as  a  sea  of  desolation.  It  would 
seem,"  says  he,  "  as  if  Arabia  Petraea  had  once  been  an 
ocean  of  lava,  and  while  its  waves  were  running  mountains 
high,  it  was  commanded  suddenly  to  stand  still !  Notliing 
is  to  be  seen  but  large  peaks  and  crags  of  naked  granite, 
composing,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  a  wilderness  of 
shaggy  rocks  and  valleys  bare  of  verdure."  Mr.  Stephens, 
an  American  traveller,  in  his  "Incidents  of  Travel  in  Egypt, 
Arabia  Petraea,  and  the  Holy  Land,"  thus  graphically 
describes  his  approach  to  the  region  in  question:  "Our 
road  now  lay  between  wild  and  rugged  mountains,  and  the 
valley  itself  Avas  stony,  broken,  and  gullied  by  the  washing 
of  the  winter  torrents  ;  and  a  few  straggling  thorn-bushes 
w^ere  all  that  grew  in  that  region  of  desolation.  I  had 
remarked  for  some  time,  and  every  moment  impressed 
it  more  and  more  forcibly  upon  my  mind,  that  every 
thing  around  me  seemed  old  and  in  decay  :  the  valley 
was  barren  and  devastated  by  torrents ;  the  rocks  were 
rent ;  the  mountains  cracked,  broken,  and  crumbling  into 
thousands  of  pieces;  and  we  encamped  at  night  between 
rocks  which  seem  to  have  been  torn  asunder  by  some  violent 
convulsion,  where  the  stones  had  washed  down  into  the  val- 
ley, and  the  drifted  sand  almost  choked  the  passage.     At 


154  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

every  step  the  scene  became  more  solemn  and  impressive. 
The  mountains  became  more  and  more  striking,  venerable, 
and  interesting.  Not  a  shrub  or  blade  of  grass  grew  on 
their  naked  sides,  deformed  with  gaps  and  fissures  ;  and 
they  looked  as  if  by  a  slight  jar  or  shake  they  would  crumble 
into  millions  of  pieces.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  cor- 
rectly the  singularly  interesting  appearance  of  these  moun- 
tains. Age,  hoary  and  venerable,  is  the  predominant  char- 
acter. They  looked  as  if  their  great  Creator  had  made 
them  higher  than  they  are,  and  their  summit,  worn  and 
weakened  by  the  action  of  the  elements  for  thousands  of 
years,  had  cracked  and  fallen.  The  last  was  by  far  the  most 
interesting  day  of  my  journey  to  Mount  Sinai.  We  were 
moving  along  a  broad  valley,  bounded  by  ranges  of  lofty  and 
crumbling  mountains,  forming  an  immense  rocky  rampart 
on  each  side  of  us.  The  whole  day  we  were  moving  be- 
tween parallel  ranges  of  mountains,  receding  in  some  places, 
and  then  again  contracting,  and  about  mid-day  entered  a 
narrow  and  rugged  defile,  bounded  on  each  side  with  pre- 
cipitous granite  rocks  more  than  a  thousand  feet  high.  We 
entered  at  the  very  bottom  of  this  defile,  moving  for  a  time 
along  the  dry  bed  of  a  torrent  now  obstructed  with  sand 
and  stones,  the  rocks  on  every  side  shivered  and  torn,  and 
the  whole  scene  wild  to  sublimity.  Our  camels  stumbled 
among  the  rocky  fragments  to  such  a  degree  that  we  dis- 
mounted, and  passed  through  the  wild  defile  on  foot.  At  the 
other  end  we  came  suddenly  upon  a  plain  table  of  ground, 
and  before  us  towered  in  awful  grandeur,  so  huge  and  dark 
that  it  seemed  close  to  us,  and  barring  all  further  progress, 
the  end  of  my  pilgrimage  —  the  holy  mountain  of  Sinai. 
Among  all  the  stupendous  works  of  nature,  not  a  place  can 
be  selected  more  fitted  for  the  exhibition  of  Almighty  power. 
I  Imve  stood  uj)on  the  summit  of  the  giant  Etna,  and  looked 
over  the  clouds  Ikjating  Itcneath  it;  upon  the  bold  scenery 
of  Sicily,  and  the  distant  mountains  of  Calabria ;  upon  the 


EXODUS   XIX.  155 

top  of  Vesuvius,  and  looked  down  upon  the  waves  of  lava, 
and  the  ruined  and  half-recovered  cities  at  its  foot ;  but  they 
are  nothing  compared  with  the  terrific  solitudes  and  bleak 
majesty  of  Sinai.  An  observing  traveller  has  well  called  it  a 
perfect  sea  of  desolation.  Not  a  tree,  or  shrub,  or  blade  of 
grass  is  to  be  seen  upon  the  bare  and  rugged  sides  of  innu- 
merable mountains,  heaving  their  naked  summits  to  the 
skies ;  while  the  crumbling  masses  of  granite  all  around,  and 
the  distant  view  of  the  Syrian  desert,  with  its  boundless  waste 
of  sands,  form  the  wildest  and  most  dreary,  the  most  terrific  and 
desolate  picture  that  imagination  can  conceive."  Carne,  an 
English  traveller,  speaking  of  this  district  says,  "  From  the 
summit  of  Sinai  you  see  only  innumerable  ranges  of  rocky 
mountains.  One  generally  places,  in  imagination,  around 
Sinai  extensive  plains  or  sandy  deserts,  where  the  camp  of 
the  hosts  was  placed  ;  where  the  families  of  Israel  stood  at 
the  doors  of  their  tents,  and  the  line  was  drawn  round  the 
mountain,  which  no  one  might  break  through,  on  pain  of 
death.  But  it  is  not  thus.  Save  the  valley  by  which  we 
approached  Sinai,  about  half  a  mile  loide  and  a  few  miles  in 
length,  and  a  small  plain  we  afterwards  passed  through,  with 
a  rocky  hill  in  the  middle,  there  appear  to  be  few  open  places 
round  the  mount.  We  did  not,  however,  examine  it  on  all 
sides.  On  putting  the  question  to  the  superior  of  the  con- 
vent, where  he  imagined  the  Israelites  stood  :  '  Everywhere,' 
he  replied,  '  waving  his  hands  about,  —  in  the  ravines,  the 
valleys,  as  well  as  the  plains.'  The  region  of  Djebel  Kate- 
rin  and  Mousa  seems  to  be  the  scene  of  the  great  event  in 
question.  The  following  extract  from  Professor  Robin- 
son's account  of  his  visit  to  the  spot  in  1838,  will  go  to  les- 
sen, very  considerably,  the  objection  founded  upon  the  lim- 
ited space  for  encampment.  'We  approached  the  central 
granite  mountains  of  Sinai,  not  by  the  more  usual  and  ea>y 
route  of  AYady  Shekh,  which  winds  around  and  enters  from 
the  east ;  but  following  a  succession  of  Wadys,  we  crossed 


15G  SCKIPTURE    r.EADINGS. 

"VVady  Shekli,  and  entered  the  higher  granite  formation  by  a 
shorter  route,  directly  from  the  N.  N.  W.,  through  a  steep, 
rocky,  and  difficult  pass,  between  rugged  and  blackened 
clifls  800  to  1,000  feet  high.  Approaching  in  this  direction, 
we  were  surprised  and  delighted  to  find  ourselves,  after  two 
hours,  crossing  the  whole  length  of  a  fine  plain  ;  from  the 
southern  end  of  which  that  part  of  Sinai,  now  called  Horeb, 
rises  perpendicularly,  in  dark  and  frowning  majesty.  This 
plain  is  over  two  miles  in  length,  and  nearly  two  thirds  of  a 
mile  broad,  sprinkled  with  tufts  of  herbs  and  shrubs,  like  the 
Wadys  of  the  desert.  It  is  wholly  inclosed  by  dark  gran- 
ite mountains,  —  stern,  naked,  splintered  peaks  and  ridges, 
from  1,000  to  1,500  feet  high.  On  the  east  of  Horeb  a  deep 
and  very  narrow  valley  runs  in  like  a  cleft,  as  if  in  continua- 
tion of  the  S.  E.  corner  of  the  plain.  In  this  stands  the 
convent,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  plain  ;  and  the 
deep  verdure  of  its  fruit-trees  and  cypresses  is  seen  as  soon 
as  the  traveller  approaches  —  an  oasis  of  beauty  amid  scenes 
of  the  sternest  desolation.  On  the  west  of  Horeb  there 
runs  up  a  similar  valley,  parallel  to  the  former.  It  is  called 
El-Leja,  and  in  it  stands  the  deserted  convent  El-Erbayin, 
with  a  garden  of  olive  and  other  fruit-trees,  not  visible  from 
the  plain.  The  name  Sinai  is  at  present  applied  generally 
to  the  lofty  ridge  running  from  N.  N.  W.  to  S.  S.  E.  between 
the  two  narrow  valleys  just  described.  The  northern  part 
or  lower  summit  is  the  present  Horeb,  overlooking  the  plain. 
About  two  and  a  half  or  three  miles  south  of  this  the  ridge 
rises  and  ends  in  a  higher  point :  this  is  the  present  summit 
of  Sinai,  the  Jebel  Musa  of  the  Arabs  ;  which,  however,  is 
not  visible  from  any  part  of  the  plain.  West  or  rather 
W.  S.  AV.  of  the  valley  El-Leja,  is  the  still  higher  ridge  and 
summit  of  Mount  St.  Catharine.  The  plain  above  mentioned 
is,  in  all  probability,  the  spot  where  the  congregation  of  Is- 
rael were  assembled  to  receive  the  law  ;  and  the  mountain 
impending  over  it,  the  present  Horeb,  was  the  scene  of  the 


EXODUS    XIX.  1j7 

awful  phenomena  in  which  the  law  was  given.  As  to  the 
present  summit  of  Sinai,  there  is  little  reason  to  suppose  that 
it  had  any  connection  with  the  giving  of  the  law  ;  and  still 
less  the  higher  peaks  of  St.  Catharine.  I  know  not  when  I 
have  felt  a  thrill  of  stronger  emotion,  than  when  in  first  cross- 
ing the  plain,  the  dark  preci})ices  of  Horcb  rising  in  solemn 
grandeur  before  us,  I  became  aware  of  tiie  entire  adapted- 
ness  of  the  scene  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  chosen  by 
the  great  Hebrew  legislator."  {Bib.  Repos.  for  April,  1 83'J.) 
Such  are  various  descriptions  of  the  mountain  from  which 
the  Law  was  given,  as  recorded  in  the  next  chapter.  Let 
us  praise  God  that  we  are  not  come  to  Mount  Sinai,  with  its 
savage  bleakness,  but  to  Mount  Sion  ;  that  we  are  trans- 
lated from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  seeking  to  be  justified 
by  a  Law  that  we  cannot  obey,  to  receiving  complete  justifi- 
cation through  a  Saviour  who  had  obeyed  the  Law  perfectly 
for  us. 


14 


CHAPTER    XX 


THE    LAW    OF   GOD. 


The  last  chapter  that  we  read  last  Sunday  morning  con- 
tained the  sublime  and  majestic  preface  to  the  giving  of  the 
Law,  when  the  people  came,  in  the  language  of  an  apostle, 
to  the  mount  that  might  be  touched,  to  blackness,  and  dark- 
ness, and  tempest,  and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  the  voice 
of  words,  which  word  they  that  heard  it  entreated  that  they 
should  not  hear  it  any  more,  and  if  so  much,  says  the  apos- 
tle, as  a  beast  or  a  living  creature  were  to  touch  the  mount, 
it  was  to  be  destroyed.  We  have  now  the  proclamation  of 
God's  holy  law  from  the  mountain  top  amidst  the  thunder, 
and  the  lightnings,  and  all  the  other  awful  accompaniments 
of  that  sublime  and  memorable  transaction. 

Recollect  that  this  Law  is  quite  distinct  from  what  is 
called  the  ceremonial  law.  The  Jews  had  three  sorts  of 
law.  They  had  the  moral  law,  the  ceremonial  law,  and  the 
poHtical  or  civil  law.  The  civil  law  existed  for  a  time  ;  its 
principles,  as  far  as  they  are  moral,  relate  to  all  time.  The 
ceremonial  law  lasted  till  Christ,  its  end  and  its  object,  came. 
But  the  moral  law,  like  the  God  that  announced  it,  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 

You  will  notice,  also,  that  this  Law  was  not  invented  on 
Mount  Sinai,  but  only  enunciated  there.  It  was  ever  true  ; 
it  is  now  true  ;  and  it  ever  will  be  true.  God's  enunciation 
of  it  on  Mount  Sinai  was  an  act  of  mercy  in  letting  his  crea- 
tures know  what  was  the  precise  exaction  of  his  will,  and 
what  would  be  the  highest  conformity  to  that  will,  if  the 


EXODUS   XX.  159 

commands  in  stone  could  bo  transferred  to  tlic  lieart,  and 
be  made  actual  and  real  in  the  life  and  the  experience  of 
mankind. 

This  Law  has  been  called  in  popular  phrase  "  the  Deca- 
logue." It  is  called  in  Deuteronomy  the  Ten  Command- 
ments ;  and  hence  the  word  AskuIojoi,  "  ten  words,"  "  ten 
laws,"  or  "ten  commandments."  I  cannot  enter  on  the 
laws  themselves,  for  that  would  be  incompatible  with  a  short 
expository  reading  ;  but  I  may  state  that  there  has  been  a 
dispute  from  the  days  of  Augustine  as  to  the  right  division 
of  the  commandments.  I  think  that  no  dispute  can  be  sus- 
tained fairly  as  to  distributing  these  precepts  according  to 
what  seems  their  natural,  just,  and  reasonable  order  ;  but 
by  Augustine,  who  lived  in  the  fourth  century,  and  who  was 
the  niost  evangelical  and  best  of  the  ancient  writers  of  the 
"Nicene  Church,  the  second  commandment,  as  we  call  it, 
was  attached  to  the  first ;  and  then  the  last  commandment 
was  divided  into  two  ;  and  the  ninth  commandment,  accord- 
ing to  that  arrangement,  was,  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  wife  ;  "  and  the  tenth  was  the  remainder  of  the 
Decalogue.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  taken  the 
division  of  Augustine  ;  and  if  it  had  stopped  there,  we  should 
not  have  complained,  because,  however  you  divide  the  com- 
mandments, if  you  give  the  whole,  it  is  equally  and  sub- 
stantially the  same ;  but  unfortunately,  by  attaching  our 
second  commandment  to  their  first  commandment,  they  have 
gradually,  year  after  year,  lessened  the  second  command- 
ment, till  in  countless  catechisms,  many  of  which  I  have  in 
my  possession,  the  second  commandment,  as  Ave  call  it,  is 
omitted  altogether.  For  instance,  in  an  Italian  catechism 
which  I  have,  drawn  up  by  Bellarmine,  and  sanctioned  by 
two  pontiffs  in  succession,  the  second  commandment  is  totally 
omitted,  and  the  fourth  commandment  is  perverted,  being 
thus  written,  Recordati  de  santijicare  le  feste.  "  Recollect 
to  sanctify  or  keep  holy  the  festivals,"  the  word  "  Sabbath  " 


IGO  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

being  wholly  expunged.  In  the  Irish  catechisms  the  second 
commandment  is  left  out,  and  also  in  a  French  catechism  I 
purchased  on  the  Continent  last  year.  It  seems  as  if  some 
master  mind  among  Romanists  graduated  the  supply  of  the 
Decalogue  according  to  the  moral  latitude  of  the  place ; 
because  in  countries  where  the  darkness  is  most  dense,  the 
fourth  commandment  is  altered,  and  the  second  is  omitted; 
in  places  again  where  there  is  a  little  more  light,  as  in  Con^ 
naught,  Leinster,  or  Munster,  the  fourth  commandment  is 
given,  but  the  second  is  omitted :  in  England  the  second  is 
given  to  a  very  great  extent,  but  not  the  whole  of  it ;  but 
in  Scotland,  where  the  Roman  Catholic  authorities  seem  to 
think  the  light  is  the  greatest,  the  second  commandment  is 
given  fully  appended  to  the  first.  So  that  it  seems  as  if 
they  had  adapted  the  commandments  to  the  amount  of  light 
that  was  in  any  particular  country.  I  hope  it  is  not  un- 
charitable to  think  so ;  for  really  the  fact  is  so  striking,  that 
one  can  scarcely  explain  it  in  any  other  way.  As  to  the 
division  of  the  last  commandment,  it  would  seem  to  be  un- 
reasonable, upon  this  simple  ground.  It  happens  that  in  the 
parallel  passage  in  Deuteronomy,  where  the  tenth  command- 
ment is  given,  it  is  written  first  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  wife  ;  "  but  in  this  passage  it  is  first,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house."  If  the  commandments  had 
been  intended  to  be  divided  according  to  the  plan  of  Augus- 
tine, it  would  have  been  the  same  in  both  —  thy  neighbor's 
wife  first,  and  thy  neighbor's  house  second ;  but  the  fact  thjjt 
in  the  one  version  "  house  "  is  first,  and  in  the  other  "  wife  "  is 
first,  is  proof  tliat  this  last  commandment,  according  to  our 
order,  was  meant  to  be  a  complete  commandment,  and  never 
was  designed  to  be  divided  into  two  distinct  commandments. 
Our  Blessed  Lord  divides  the  whole  Decalogue  into  two 
great  Commandments,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  tliy  h(.'art,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  witii  all  thy  strength  :  this  is  the  first  command- 


EXODUS    XX.  161 

ment.  And  tlie  second  is  like,  namely  this,  "  Tliou  slialt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Obedience  to  this  Decalogue 
is  based,  not  simply  upon  God's  claims  as  a  Legislator,  which 
are  most  just,  but  also  upon  God's  goodness  as  a  Benefactor ; 
for  the  preface  to  the  Commandments  is,  "I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God  —  a  covenant  God  —  and  I  have  done  this  good 
for  you,  I  have  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  and 
therefore,  because  I  am  not  only  your  Legislator,  but  your 
Benefactor,  I  ask  you  to  regard  obedience  to  the  exactions 
of  this  Law  as  the  highest  happiness,  as  well  as  the  su- 
premest  obhgation  ;  and  I  wish  you  to  obey  it,  not  because 
it  is  just,  but  because  gratitude  should  prompt  you  to  do  so." 

Then  He  says,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before, 
me."  Now  mark  the  force  of  this.  It  is  not,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  substitute  any  other  gods  for  me,"  but,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
have  any  other  gods  in  company  with  me."  The  Caesars 
would  have  allowed  to  the  image  of  our  Blessed  Lord  a 
niche  in  the  Pantheon,  if  the  apostles  would  have  consented 
to  the  proposal ;  but  the  answer  of  the  apostles  was,  "  No ; 
our  God  cannot  be  in  company  with  other  gods.  He  must 
fill  the  whole  Pantheon  with  his  glory,  or  he  will  not  enter 
'*t  at  all."  It  is  so  with  the  human  heart.  My  dear  friends, 
^«here  ought  to  be  in  that  human  heart  but  one  Supreme 
Governor,  Lord,  Master,  and  King.  He  will  not  share  the 
human  heart  with  others ;  he  must  have  the  whole,  or  he 
will  have  none.  And  the  great  struggle  that  goes  on  in  the 
case  of  thousands  is  not  a  struggle  about  superseding  God 
by  other  gods,  or  dislodging  the  true  God  to  let  in  an  idol ; 
but  it  is  a  struggle  whether  our  adhesion  to  the  Christian 
rehgion  be  compatible  wnth  our  adhesion  to  something  else 
that  is  incompatible  with  it  —  whether  God  and  other  gods 
can  live  together  in  the  same  place.  It,  cannot  be.  It  is 
written,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me." 

And  not  only  so,  but  you  shall  not  make  any  image  for 
worship.  This  second  commandment  has  been  construed 
14* 


162  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

according  to  two  extremes.  The  very  severe  and  strict 
Jews  construed  it  rigidly,  and  i:)rohil)ited  painting  and  stat- 
uary, and  all  the  other  parts  of  those  beautiful  and  interest- 
ing arts.  They  said  it  -was  absolutely  prohibitory  of  making 
an  image  of  any  thing  in  heaven  and  earth  at  all.  Others, 
again,  have  construed  it  so  laxly,  that  they  have  made  all 
sorts  of  images  of  every  thing  in  heaven  and  out  of  heaven, 
till  at  last  human  genius  has  been  exhausted  in  representing 
things  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  for  the 
ornament  of  the  Christian  temple.  Now,  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  second  commandment  applies  especially  to  churches. 
I  would  make  churches  as  chaste  and  comfortable,  even 
beautiful,  as  possible ;  for  I  should  not  like  to  dwell  in  a 
ceiled  house  while  God's  house  is  laid  desolate ;  but  I  do 
think  that  pictures  of  the  Trinity  in  church  windows  are 
perfect  abominations.  In  the  first  place,  a  picture  of  God 
the  Father  is  most  offensive ;  and  in  the  second  place,  even 
the  masterpieces  of  Vandyke  and  Rubens,  and  others,  who 
have  painted  our  Blessed  Lord,  come  so  far  short  of  the 
magnificent  concef)tion  that  lies  in  the  holy  place  of  every 
Christian  heart,  that  we  would  rather  not  see  such  paintings 
at  all ;  and  in  the  third  place,  the  paintings  that  we  do  see 
in  churches  in  this  country  are  so  shocking,  that  one  does 
not  envy  the  taste  of  those  church-wardens  who  accept 
them.  One  can  scarcely  conceive  that  the  piety  is  very  en- 
lightened that  admits  them  there.  And  again,  paintings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  are  very  doubtful.  It  is  thought  by  some 
that  the  Spirit  did  assume  the  form  of  a  dove ;  if  he  did  so, 
it  was  incidental ;  lie  was  not  incarnate  in  that  form.  The 
only  defensive  reasons  are  to  be  urged  in  favor  of  pictures 
of  our  blessed  Lord  ;  for  it  seems  absurd  to  speak  of  like- 
nesses of  the  other  Persons  in  the  Blessed  Trinity.  And 
if  the  ])ictures  of  our  Blessed  Lord  were  portraits,  one 
might  consent  to  tolerate  them ;  but  they  are  no  more  por- 
traits of  Jesus  than  they  are  of  the  thieves  that  were  cruci- 


EXODUS   XX.  163 

fied  on  his  right  band  or  on  his  left ;  they  are  merely  fanci- 
ful conceptions  of  an  able  painter's  mind  or  genius,  and 
even  as  such  they  are  most  exceptional.  Let  there  be  no 
pictures  of  the  Deity,  therefore,  in  our  churches.  And  it  is 
remarkable  that  in  the  early  church  this  was  so  much  felt, 
that  when  a  great  divine  saw  upon  a  curtain  a  picture  of 
our  Lord,  he  rent  it  in  pieces.  And  we  know  that  by  the 
second  Council  of  Nice  in  the  seventh  century,  such  pic- 
tures were  barely  tolerated,  and  were  introduced  amidst  a 
great  deal  of  objection. 

Let  me  notice  very  briefly  the  fourth  commandment. 
There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  dispute  about  that.  Some 
have  said  that  it  is  not  obligatory  upon  us.  If  so,  why  is  it 
not  in  the  civil  and  ceremonial  law,  instead  of  being  given 
amidst  the  moral  law^  ?  I  admit  that  our  Sabbath  is  not  the 
Jew^ish  one.  I  think  the  way  in  which  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  observed  was  cumbered  wdth  difficulties,  that  made  it  a 
burden.  Works  of  charity  and  necessity,  of  which  every 
Christian's  conscience  is  the  best  judge,  are  permissible  on 
our  Sabbath.  Some  Christians,  I  think,  have  gone  to  very 
extravagant  lengtl>s  upon  the  subject  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
have  held  ideas  upon  it,  not  as  if  it  were  the  Lord's  day, 
but  as  if  it  were  the  Jewish  day.  But  tlie  moral  Sabbath 
remains  until  now,  although  the  Jewish  observances  are  to 
be  detached  from  it  as  altogether  distinct. 

You  say,  then,  why  observe  it  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week  ?  My  answer  is,  that  this  fourth  commandment  is  not 
the  consecration  of  the  seventh  day ;  but  it  is  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  Sabbath.  It  is  not  "  Remember  the  seventh  day 
to  keep  it  holy ; "  but,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy."  But,  you  say,  was  it  not  observed  by  the 
Jews  on  the  seventh  day  ?  Certainly  ;  but  the  law  is,  that 
one  day  in  seven  shall  be  the  Sabbath  ;  it  does  not  lay  down 
the  order  that  it  shall  be  the  seventh  day  in  numerical  suc- 
cession, but  that  it  shall  be  one  day  out  of  the  seven,  on 


1G4  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

whicli  the  Sabbath  shall  be  observed.  Amongst  the  Jews,  it 
was  the  seventh  day  in  order ;  amongst  Christians,  it  is  the 
first.  The  Jewisli  candlestick  was  the  seventh  day,  ours  is 
the  first ;  but  the  light  is  still  on  the  latter,  as  it  was  on  the 
former,  the  Sabbath  day :  so  that  the  institution  of  the 
Sabbath  is  quite  distinct  from  the  day  on  which  it  is  to  be 
observed. 

You  will  always  find  that  the  Sabbath  is  the  index  of 
national  religion,  morality,  and  virtue.  Where  the  Sabbath 
has  ceased  to  be  a  holy  day,  and  has  become  a  worldly  holi- 
day, you  may  contrast  the  state  of  such  nations  with  our 
own  country,  where,  in  comparison,  it  is  so  well  observed. 
I  remember,  in  1851,  what  an  impression  was  made  upon 
continental  nations,  when  they  came  to  the  Crystal  Palace, 
and  saw  that  that  beautiful  and  useful  creation  of  human 
genius  was  open  six  days  in  the  week  ;  but  that,  even 
amidst  the  works  of  art  and  the  productions  of  nature, 
nations  from  afar  could  read,  in  the  light  of  England's  sun- 
shine, "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SLAVES  AND  MASTERS.   REASON  OF  TOLERATION  OF  SLAVERY. 
LEX  TALIONIS. 

Perhafs  the  best  distinction  between  the  Law,  as  re- 
corded in  the  previous  chapter,  commonly  called  the  Deca- 
logue, or  the  Law  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the 
peculiar  laws  that  I  have  now  read,  is  this,  that  the  former 
are  moral,  binding  in  all  ages,  in  all  countries,  and  under  all 
circumstances;  and  that  the  latter  are  national  and  judicial, 
and  specially  applicable  in  their  details,  at  least  to  the  Jews 
in  their  nomad  state,  in  the  desert,  previous  to  their  entering 
into  Canaan,  but  at  the  same  time,  like  all  specific  prescrip- 
tions in  the  Bible,  containing  great  and  general  truths, 
instructive  and  binding  everywhere  and  at  all  times. 

Now  this  is  the  first  chapter,  and  one  of  the  chiefest,  that 
treats  of  a  subject  that  has  made  a  great  deal  of  noise  in 
the  present  day,  namely,  the  subject  of  slavery.  It  is  very 
plain  that  there  were  two  classes  of  slaves  among  the 
Hebrews,  using  the  word  "  slave "  in  its  strict  and  ancient 
sense.  There  was  a  Hebrew  slave,  or  a  slave  from  among 
the  Hebrews ;  and  there  was  a  slave  from  other  countries,  a 
stranger,  a  heathen,  and  a  Gentile.  There  were  distinct 
codes  of  laws  for  each  class  of  slaves ;  but  the  laws  laid 
down  for  the  regulation  of  slavery,  as  it  existed  amongst  the 
Hebrews,  were  public  laws  settled  by  judicial  opinions,  were 
known  to  the  slave  and  to  his  master,  and  were  inspired 
with  a   mercy  and  a  controlling  beneficence,  that  makes 


1G6  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ancient  slavery,  so  called,  almost  as  different  as  light  is  from 
darkness,  from  the  slavery  that  we  once  had  in  the  AYest 
Indies,  and  that  the  Southern  States  of  America  at  this  day 
unhappily  are  stained  by. 

In  reference  to  the  Hebrew  slave  there  is  one  point  that 
is  very  striking,  and  that  is,  that  whatever  was  the  obligation 
under  which  a  slave  came  amongst  the  Jews,  never  was  his 
person  regarded  as  chattels,  as  goods,  as  property.  His  ser- 
vices were  bought  for  life,  or  till  the  years  of  jubilee  ;  but 
his  person  never  was  regarded  as  property  to  be  sold  in  the 
market,  and  never,  in  any  sense,  was  man  then  degraded 
and  debased  as  he  has  been  by  slavery  in  modern  times. 
This  is  a  point  worthy  of  notice.  In  the  second  verse  it  is 
said,  "  If  thou  buy  an  Hebrew  servant."  You  will  say,  does 
not  that  mean  property  acquired  by  purchase  ?  But  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  word  here  translated  "  buy  "  is  fully  as 
frequently  translated  "acquire"  or  "procure,"  either  by 
inheritance,  by  donation,  or  by  free  will  offering,  and  not  in 
the  sense  of  giving  an  equivalent  in  money  for  what  you 
possess.  For  instance,  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  used  by 
Eve,  when  she  says,  at  Cain's  birth,  "  I  have  gotten  a  man 
from  the  Lord."  That  does  not  mean  that  Eve  purchased 
Cain,  but  that  she  obtained  Cain  from  the  Lord.  The  very 
same  word  is  used  in  Proverbs,  wliere  it  is  translated,  "  He 
that  hearcth  reproof  getteth  understanding."  Again,  we 
have  it  in  Psalm  Ixxviii.  54,  "  He  brought  them  to  this 
mountain,  which  his  right  hand  had  purchased,"  that  is,  ac- 
quired or  procured.  We  might  therefore  most  justly  trans- 
late this  second  verse,  "  If  thou  procure,  acquire,  or  obtain, 
in  any  way,  an  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  he  shall  serve." 
And  you  will  notice  that  Avhen  money  was  given,  as  it  was 
in  some  instances,  it  was  fixed  by  the  servant  that  his  master 
was  to  give  him  so  much  for  his  services,  for  seven,  fourteen, 
or  twenty  years,  or  for  life.  He  sold  his  services  for  a 
period,  just  as  a  servant  does  now.     But  giving  money  to 


EXODUS    XXI.  1G7 

the  slave  for  his  services  is  very  diftcrent  from  giving  the 
money  to  his  former  muster,  and  letting  the  slave  derive 
none  of  the  benefit  of  his  work. 

Again,  in  those  times,  a  Hebrew  in  extreme  poverty  might 
sell  himself;  under  similar  circumstances,  a  father  might  sell 
his  child  ;  an  insolvent  debtor  might  be  sold  to  \niy  his  debts ; 
a  thief  who  could  not  make  restitution  might  be  sold  as  a 
slave  ;  and  a  captive  taken  in  war  was  frequently  treated  in 
like  manner. 

Now,  it  is  needless  to  deny  that  slavery  did  exist  under 
the  express  toleration  of  God ;  but  it  was  so  mitigated  and 
intermingled  with  alleviating  elements,  that  the  slavery  of 
the  ancient  Hebrews  differed  most  widely  from  the  slavery 
which  exists  in  modern  times  in  some  of  those  nations  under 
whose  constitution  it  is  still  retained.  But  while  slavery 
was  tolerated  it  was  not  approved  of  God.  In  the  same 
manner  polygamy  existed  amongst  the  patriarchs,  but  it  was 
not  a  Divine  institution.  Our  Saviour  refers  back  to  the 
original  law,  when  he  says, "  They  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  " 
—  one  man  and  one  woman.  Polygamy  existed  among  the 
Hebrews,  and  was  practised  by  the  patriarchs,  and  our 
Lord  explains  why  :  it  was  connived  at,  or  suffered,  for  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts.  So,  slavery  existed  in  a  mitigated 
form  amongst  the  ancient  Hebrews.  God  did  not  abolish  it 
by  a  sweeping  law,  but  introduced  those  enlightening,  sancti- 
fying, and  elevating  principles,  that  soon  sapped  the  exist- 
ence of  polygamy  and  slavery,  and  every  other  evil  practice 
that  existed  in  the  Hebrew  nations.  In  those  countries  where 
slavery  is  now,  it  seems  as  if  it  would  be  a  revolution  to  tear 
it  up  by  the  roots ;  but  still,  there  ought  to  be  a  very  speedy 
and  decided  attempt  to  mitigate,  and  eventually  utterly  to 
remove  it.  The  atrocities  that  exist  in  modern  times  — 
selling  a  husband  to  one,  his  wife  to  another,  and  the  chil- 
dren to  a  third — were  never  dreamt  of  amongst  the  He- 
brews, and  have  been  tolerated  in  modern  nations,  I  think 
iniquitously  before  God  and  unprofitably  to  themselves. 


1G8  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

We  liave  an  express  enactment  in  the  sixteenth  verse 
against  what  is  unhappily  done  in  modern  times.  "  He  that 
stealeth  a  man  ^'  —  it  matters  not  whether  he  be  an  Asiatic, 
an  African,  or  a  European  —  "  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be 
found  in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death."  Now, 
if  man  wTvS  regarded  as  property  then,  I  ask,  wdiy  was  it 
that  if  a  man  stole  an  ox,  he  had  only  to  return  an  ox  as  an 
equivalent?  or  if  he  stole  corn,  he  had  only  to  repay  it 
in  so  much  corn  as  an  equivalent  ?  but  that  if  he  stole  a  man, 
he  came  under  a  new  law  altogether  ;  he  was  not  called  upon 
to  make  an  equivalent,  but  the  crime  was  regarded  as  so 
atrocious,  that  he  who  was  guilty  of  it  was  to  be  put  to 
death  ?  We  have  this  very  law  repeated  in  Deuteronomy 
xxiv.  7.  "  If  a  man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his  brethren 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  maketh  merchandise  of  him, 
or  selleth  him,  then  that  thief  shall  die,  and  thou  shalt  put 
evil  from  among  you."  That  is  a  very  strict  prohibition, 
and  seems  to  be  as  obligatory  at  the  present  moment  as  in 
ancient  times.  I  may  mention,  also,  that  in  1  Timothy  i.  9, 
where  we  have  a  list  of  the  most  extreme  offenders,  there  is 
one  class  specified  in  our  translation  as  "  menstealers."  The 
word  so  rendered  is  avdpaTrodtarai^,  which  means  literally, 
"  men  who  make  a  trade  in  men ;  "  and  the  best  translation 
of  that  Greek  word  is  "  slave-traders,"  which  expresses  ex- 
actly the  meaning  of  the  original ;  and  the  text  distinctly 
shows  that  slave-trading,  or  dealing  in  human  beings  as 
goods  and  property,  is  an  offence  and  crime  in  the  sight  of 
God  to  be  classified  with  the  worst. 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  slavery  no  doubt  existed  amongst 
the  Hebrews,  or  was  tolerated  by  God  ;  but  secondly,  that 
mitigating  elements  were  introduced  into  it,  which  made  it 
entirely  differ  from  modern  slavery ;  thirdly,  the  law  of 
master  and  slave  was  a  matter  for  the  cognizance  of  the 
public  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country,  and  not  a  matter  of 
private  judgment  at  all ;  and  fourthly,  if  a  master  in  anger 


EXODUS   XXI.  1G9 

struck  his  slave,  and  that  slave  lost  a  toolli,  lliat  slave  be- 
came free.  Now  what  a  mitigating  element  was  tliat !  I 
do  not  know  tlie  laws  of  the  Southern  States  of  America,  but 
I  should  fancy  that  if  a  slave  were  struck  by  his  master,  lie 
would  not  become  free;  and  that  if  he  were  to  quote  tliis 
chapter,  he  would  be  told  that  he  had  no  business  with  tlie 
Bible,  since  he  was  a  beast  of  burden  and  not  fit  for  instruc- 
tion. But  here  was  a  most  mitigating  element.  And  again, 
slavery  as  it  existed  then,  I  have  said,  was  tolerated  by  God, 
not  approved,  just  as  polygamy  was ;  but  Christian  truths 
and  Christian  principles  are  calculated  to  put  an  end  to  it ; 
and  they  have  already,  as  far  as  this  great  country  is  con- 
cerned, put  an  end  to  all  practice  or  sanction  of  man-selling, 
and  slave-holding.  It  is  surely  a  beautiful  trait  in  our 
native  land,  that  the  slave  from  the  Southern  States  of 
America,  or  from  Spanish  Cuba,  or  any  other  country  where 
slavery  is  tolerated,  is  a  free  man  the  instant  his  foot  touches 
our  shores.  He  may  be  poor,  or  ragged,  or  sick,  but  free 
he  is ;  and  no  power  in  the  wide  world  can  bind  in  chains 
that  visitor,  that  refugee,  whom  our  noble  constitution  pro- 
nounces to  be  a  free  man.  In  verse  7  we  see  that  a  female 
taken  as  a  slave  was  viewed  as  likely  to  become  the  wife  of 
her  master  —  and  if  he  should  not  marry  her,  his  son  might, 
or  if  neither  did,  she  was  to  go  out  free,  and  with  property 
besides. 

We  read  next  in  this  chapter  of  what  is  called  the  lex 
talionis,  or  the  law  of  punishing  an  offence  by  inflicting  the 
very  same  injury  upon  him  who  had  done  it.  But  this  has 
very  often  been  misconstrued.  "An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  <'i 
tooth  for  a  tooth,"  is  the  expression  of  the  law ;  but  it  did 
not  mean  that  literally  and  without  alternative.  This  might 
be  done,  or  an  equivalent  or  satisfaction  might  be  accepted 
for  the  injury.  In  the  case  of  murder  it  is  said  that  no  sat- 
isfaction should  be  taken,  implying  that  in  other  cases  it 
might  be.     Besides,  this  was  not  a  private  retaliation.     The 

15 


170  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

offender  was  to  be  brought  before  tlie  public  tribunals  of  the 
country.  But  our  Blessed  Lord,  in  that  magnificent  dis- 
course pronounced  on  the  Mount,  has  said  that  that  is  not  to 
be  the  rigid  law.  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said, 
An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  ;  but  I  say  unto 
you,  That  ye  resist  not  evil."  You  are  under  another  dispen- 
sation ;  you  have  a  brighter  light,  higher  privileges,  richer 
knowledge  ;  and  therefore,  you  must  act  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  and  not  in  the  spirit  of  the  lex  talionis,  or  the  law 
of  retaliation. 

The  last  fhing  I  notice  here  is  the  i^unishment  of  murder. 
It  is  here  repeated  that  a  murderer  shall  be  put  to  death. 
And  this  is  so  often  implied  throughout  the  Word  of  God, 
that  I  think  there  can  be  no  possibility  of  escaping  the  con- 
clusion that  this  is  a  Divine  and  a  permanent  law.  AVe  have 
it  before  the  institution  of  the  Levitical  economy,  where 
God  says  to  Noah,  "  Wlioso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man 
shall  his  blood  be  shed ; "  and  you  have  the  law  repeated 
here ;  and  you  have  the  prohibition  in  the  Commandments, 
"  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder ; "  and  you  have  the  penalty  of 
death  here  attached  to  it.  It  seems  to  be  that  crime  which 
is  ever  to  be  so  punished,  and  the  only  crime,  as  far  as  the 
Word  of  God  is  a  guide,  that  ought  to  be  so  punished. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

JUDICIAL  LAWS.  AXCIEXT  MOXEY.  EURGLARY.  TRESPASSES.  LAW- 
SUITS. STRANGERS.  MOXEY-LEXDING .  OFFENCES  AGAINST 
MAGISTRATES. 

I  TiiiXK  I  noticed  in  the  course  of  my  remarks  on  tlie 
previous  chapters,  that  a  great  part  of  these  laws  was  topi- 
cal ;  that  is,  peculiar  to  the  place  and  age  in  which  they 
were  made;  and  that  they  were  also  judicial  —  that  is,  not 
so  much  for  the  regulation  of  personal  conduct  and  personal 
feeling  between  individuals  privately,  as  for  tlie  guidance  of 
the  judges  who  sat  upon  the  bench,  and  pronounced  decisions 
according  to  the  merit  of  the  causes  that  came  before  them. 
These  laws  were  special.  You  recollect  that  the  Hebrews 
came  out  of  Egypt  a  race  of  craven,  degraded,  miserable 
slaves ;  they  were  not  ripe  for  perfect  laws.  We  can  see, 
therefore,  that  much  of  the  law  that  is  here  laid  down  is 
adapted  to  society  in  its  infant  state,  or  when  very  feebly  and 
imperfectly  developed  ;  and  only  as  they  grew  in  light,  in 
power,  in  knowledge,  and  in  understanding,  the  laws  would 
rise,  become  purer,  and  indicate  altogether  a  higher  tone 
for  the  guidance  of  the  people.  But  suppose,  now,  that  you 
knew  nothing  of  the  inspiration  of  these  laws,  would  you  not 
be  very  much  startled  to  hear  this,  tliat  an  individual  called 
Moses  marched  a  number  of  miserable  slaves  out  of  Egypt, 
led  them  through  the  Desert ;  and  without  any  inspiration, 
but  by  the  might  of  his  own  genius,  struck  out  laws  so  just, 
so  seasonable,  so  fair,  reaching  almost  every  i)oint  wliere 


172  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

society  may  be  at  fault,  and  providing  for  every  contingency 
with  a  precision,  equity,  and  good  sense,  that  must  strike 
every  one  who  reads  them.  Is  it  possible  to  suppose  that  a 
man  who  was  forty  years  in  the  Desert,  and  forty  years  a 
subordinate  in  Pharaoh's  court,  should  have  been  able,  from 
his  own  genius,  to  invent  laws,  in  comparison  of  which  those 
of  Solon  are  extremely  imperfect  and  poor  ?  Is  it  possible 
to  account  for  all  this  in  any  other  way,  than  that  God 
inspired  Moses  so  to  teach  ? 

The  reason  why  so  much  is  said  about  oxen  and  sheep 
was  simply  this,  that  what  we  call  money  was  not  then  in 
existence;  an  ox  was  given  for  an  ox,  or  a  sheep  for  a 
sheep ;  or,  if  a  man  wished  to  buy  a  robe  or  a  wardrobe,  he 
gave  so  many  sheep  or  oxen  for  it.  And  this  usage  of  cat- 
tle as  money  is  the  origin,  as  I  have  noticed  before,  of  our 
v.ord  "  pecuniary."  The  latin  word  peciuiia,  "  money,"  is 
derived  from  the  Latin  word  pecus,  "  cattle."  The  first 
coins  had  struck  upon  them  oxen  or  sheep,  indicating  that 
cattle  was  the  substantial  property ;  and  that  gold,  silver,  or 
copper  coins  were  but  the  conventional  rei^resentations  of 
that  property.  Thus,  then,  "  if  a  man  shall  steal  an  ox," 
which  was  property,  "  or  a  sheep,  and  kill  it,  or  sell  it,"  then, 
as  the  punishment  of  what  he  has  done,  by  the  decision  of 
the  judge,  "he  shall  restore  five  oxen,"  the  only  j^roperty 
that  could  be  given  in  compensation,  "  for  an  ox,  and  four 
sheep  for  a  sheep."  It  seems  strange  that  five  oxen  should 
be  restored  for  stealing  an  ox,  and  only  four  sheep  for  steal- 
ing a  sheep ;  but  the  fact  is,  that  the  ox  was  to  the  Israelites 
and  the  Easterns  generally  every  thing.  Not  only  was  his 
skin  used  for  leather,  and  his  flesh  for  food  ;  but  he  was  the 
animal  that  drew  their  carts,  dragged  their  ploughs,  and  did 
all  the  drudgery  of  their  fields.  An  ox  Avas  more  capable 
of  labor  than  a  sheep ;  and,  therefore,  there  was  a  greater 
crime  in  stealing  an  ox  than  a  sheep,  on  these  grounds,  and 
these  "irrounds  alone. 


EXODUS    XXIT.  173 

It  is  said,  that  if  a  thief  be  found  breaking  into  a  house, 
and  if  the  hmdlord  or  pro{)rietor  in  self-defence  smite  hira, 
so  that  he  die,  this  is  not  murder,  nor  even  homiride.  The 
case  shall  be  examined  into  ;  but  no  one  who  has  tlms  killed 
a  burglar  shall  be  put  to  death  as  a  murderer.  We  rnay 
here  notice  how  all  this  implies,  what  underlies  it  all,  that 
murder  was  to  be  punished  with  death.  Tiie  very  [)roviso, 
that  there  was  to  be  no  punishment  of  death  i.n  this  case, 
implies  the  previous  sanction  of  the  death  penalty,  where 
deliberate  and  preconcerted  murder  had  been  committed. 
But,  "if  the  sun  be  risen  upon  the  thief"  —  that  is,  if  the 
proprietor  of  the  house  kill  him  deliberately  —  then  "there 
shall  be  blood  shed  for  him  ;  "  that  is,  it  is  murder,  it  is  not 
justifiable  homicide,  in  any  shape  or  sense:  "for  he  should 
make  full  restitution  ;  if  he  have  nothing,  then  he  shall 
be  sold  for  his  theft."  You  can  see  that  this  clause  is 
wrongly  translated.  How  could  he  be  sold,  if  previously 
killed?  It  ought  to  be  translated,  and  the  original  Hebrew- 
necessitates  what  I  now  state  as  the  true  translation,  "  Blood 
shall  be  shed  for  him  ;  for,  if  he  had  been  spared,  the  law 
requires  that  he  should  liave  made  full  restitution ;  and 
that,  if  he  had  nothing,  he  should  be  sold  for  his  theft." 
Then,  "  if  the  theft  be  certainly  found  in  his  hand  alive, 
whether  it  be  ox,  or  ass,  or  sheep,  he  shall  restore  double"  — 
that  is,  if  he  be  caught. 

"  If  a  man  shall  cause  a  field  or  vineyard  to  be  eaten, 
and  shall  put  in  his  beast,  and  shall  feed  in  another  man's 
field ;  of  the  best  of  his  own  field,  and  of  the  best  of  his 
own  vineyard,  shall  he  make  restitution  ; "  that  is  the  pun- 
ishment for  trespass. 

Then,  "  If  fire  break  out,  and  catch  in  thorns,  so  that  the 
stacks  of  corn,  or  the  standing  corn,  or  the  field  be  con- 
sumed therewith,  he  that  kindleth  the  fire  shall  surely  make 
restitution."  It  is  found  still  in  Eastern  countries  that  the 
grass  or  vegetation  becomes  all  withered  and  faded  before 
15* 


174  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  wet  season  comes,  under  the  intense  heat  of  the  summer 
sun  ;  and  it  is  the  practice  still,  I  find  by  reference  to  per- 
sons who  have  turned  their  attention  to  this,  and  to  compe- 
tent testimony,  to  set  lire  to  the  dry  stubble,  because  the 
carbon  that  is  deposited  from  the  consumption  of  the  grass 
or  vegetation  fertilizes  the  soil  for  the  next  crop.  But  if  a 
person,  in  order  to  get  his  field  well  manured,  shall  be  so 
careless,  that  he  shall  allow  the  flame  to  be  blown  by  the 
wind  into  his  neighbor's  standing  corn,  he  shall  make  resti- 
tution. 

Then  it  is  said,  "All  manner  of  trespass  shall  come  before 
the  judges,"  —  it  shall  not  be  adjusted  privately,  but  pub- 
licly. There  has  been  a  great  misapprehension  about  law- 
suits. The  apostle  certainly  prohibits  going  to  law  before 
the  heathen ;  but  in  the  Old  Testament  you  can  see  that  the 
forms  of  public  justice  are  recommended.  The  distinction 
in  the  apostle's  days  was,  not  that  it  was  sinful  to  go  to  law, 
but  that  it  was  most  inexpedient  to  go  to  law  before  the 
heathen.  I  think  it  is  quite  right,  where  there  are  Chris- 
tian judges,  as  in  our  own  land,  to  go  to  law,  if  two  parties 
cannot  agree  upon  a  matter.  There  may  be  great  fault  on 
the  one  side,  and  great  sin  on  the  other ;  but  if  they  cannot 
adjust  their  dispute,  it  is  quite  right  to  go  before  a  court  of 
justice,  and  get  a  decision  there  according  to  the  merits  of 
the  case ;  but  where  the  matter  can  be  settled  by  two  or 
three  witnesses  or  friends,  then  it  is  much  better,  and  vastly 
cheaper,  that  this  course  should  be  taken ;  but  still,  it  is  not 
sinful  to  adopt  the  other. 

Again,  we  read,  "  If  a  man  deliver  unto  his  neighbor  an 
ass,  or  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  or  any  beast  to  keep,  and  it  die,  or 
be  hurt,  or  driven  away,  no  man  seeing  it,"  then  an  oath 
sliall  be  exacted  from  the  person  who  had  it  that  he  has  not 
used  any  unfair  play  with  it. 

Again,  "  If  a  man  borrow  ought  of  his  neighbor,  and  it 
be  hurt  or  die,  the  owner  thereof  being  not  with  it,"  then  he 


EXODUS    XXII.  175 

who  took  the  sole  charge  of  it  shall  be  chargeable  for  it ;  but 
"  if  the  owner  thereof  be  with  it,"  then  it  is  common  sense 
that  the  owner  alone  shall  be  responsible  for  it. 

It  is  added,  "  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger,  nor 
o[)[)ress  him :  for  "  (how  beautiful  is  the  reason  !)  "  je  were 
strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  Sympathy  must  teach 
you  how  you  ought  to  act.  You  know  what  a  liard  time 
you  had  of  it  in  Egypt;  and  that  fellow-feeling  must  teach 
you  to  sympathize  with  the  stranger,  and  not  to  afflict  the 
widow  and  the  fatherless. 

It  is  said,  "  If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my  people  that 
is  poor  by  thee,  thou  shalt  not  be  to  him  as  an  usurer, 
neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon  him  usury;"  that  is  to  say,  you 
shall  not  demand  a  percentage  larger  than  is  legal  and 
proper ;  for  it  was  not,  I  think,  the  law  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, that  no  interest  should  be  received  for  money.  If  that 
be  sinful,  which  is  not  asserted,  then  every  one  who  has 
money  in  the  funds  is  living  in  constant  sin.  But  usury 
means  receiving  more  interest  than  is  just  and  equitable  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  trade,  and  the  conventional  com.pact 
that,  by  law  or  usage,  exists  in  any  country. 

Then  it  is  written,  "  If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbor's 
raiment  to  pledge,  thou  shalt  deliver  it  unto  him  by  that  the 
sun  goeth  down."  This  seems  to  us  almost  a  mystery  ;  but 
if  you  will  recollect  what  Eastern  customs  were  tlien,  and 
still  are,  you  will  see  how  natural  it  is.  The  raiment  that 
he  pledged  was  the  outer  robe  that  not  only  sheltered  him 
from  the  weather  by  day,  but  was  also  the  only  blanket  in 
which  he  wrapped  himself  at  night;  just  as  in  the  High- 
lands, where  the  plaid  was  not  only  the  covering  by  day, 
but  the  blanket  by  night.  So,  if  a  man  pledge  that  which 
is  his  only  covering  by  night,  when,  without  it,  health  would 
be  endangered  ;  then  you  are  to  restore  it  to  him  before 
night :  for  I  will  that,  in  doing  justly,  you  shall  not  forget 
mercy  ;  "  for  I  am  gracious,"  saith  the  Lord. 


176  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

It  is  written  in  the  28tli  verse,  "  Thou  shalt  not  revile  the 
gods  nor  curse  the  ruler  of  thy  people."  The  word  ''  gods  " 
is  used  here  plainly  in  the  sense  of  magistrates.  You  recol- 
lect that  the  Apostle  Paul,  when  he  spoke  to  the  high-priest, 
said  that  he  did  not  know  that  it  was  the  high-priest ;  for 
"  thou  shalt  not  revile  the  ruler  of  thy  people."  It  is  in  the 
original  Ehhim,  and  so  judges  were  frequently  called ;  and 
it  means,  "  Thou  shalt  not  revile  the  judges,  nor  curse  the 
ruler  of  thy  people."  Whenever  inferiors  begin  to  calum- 
niate or  to  ridicule  those  who  are  set  in  office  in  the  land  for 
the  administration  of  justice,  it  weakens  their  influence  upon 
the  people ;  and  does  much  harm  without  doing  any  good. 

Then  he  refers  to  the  offering  of  first-fruits,  and  concludes 
the  whole  chapter  by  saying,  "  Ye  shall  be  holy  men  unto 
me," 

These  laws  are  most  merciful  and  considerate ;  and  indi- 
cate an  inspiration  that  was  more  than  human ;  and  when 
you  regard  them  not  as  the  only  existing  laws,  but  as  a 
national  sui)plement  to  what  was  the  moral  law,  which  we 
read  in  the  20th  chapter,  you  will  see  their  wisdom  and  com- 
pleteness. Outward  ceremonial  purity  was  constantly  em- 
ployed as  a  type  of  inward  purity.  These  laws  implied  a 
world  gone  wrong,  and  seem  to  have  been  indications  of  its 
restoration.  They  were  parts,  and  some  of  them  the  merest 
pegs,  of  a  gigantic  scaffolding.  Every  day  brings  us  nearer 
to  that  blessed  era,  when  the  headstone  shall  be  laid  on  the 
completed  edifice,  amid  shouts,  "  Grace,  grace  unto  it." 


CHAPTER     XXIII. 


LAWS   AGAINST  CALUMNY.      EXCESSIVE  DEFERENCE   TO    AUTHORITY. 
JUDICIAL   RULES.      FESTIVALS.      THE   ANGEL  JEUOVAH. 

I  HAVE  already  observed,  after  reading  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  that  it  contained  a  universal 
or  moral  law,  obligatory  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  in 
all  ages  and  at  all  times  ;  but  I  took  occasion  to  state,  that 
immediately  after  the  moral  law,  Moses  received  from  God 
certain  judicial  laws,  which  were  to  be  observed  by  the 
judges  and  public  officers  of  the  nation,  the  benefit  and  bless- 
ing of  which,  as  just  and  equitable  in  themselves,  that  favored 
people  were  thenceforth  privileged  to  receive.  Each  of  the 
laws  that  we  have  read  this  morning,  is  full  of  equity,  tender- 
ness, and  love,  all  breathing  mercy,  and  indicating,  unques- 
tionably, that  they  were  the  inspiration  and  creation  of  the 
wisdom  of  God. 

In  order  to  see  the  Divine  origin  of  these  laws,  just  con- 
sider what  these  people  were.  They  had  come  out  from 
Egypt,  depressed,  ignorant,  illiterate.  How  could  the  Jewish 
nation,  as  I  have  already  said  —  debased,  degraded,  broken- 
spirited  (Moses  the  only  exception) — have  conceived  laws 
so  full  of  justice,  of  equit}^  of  mercy,  of  considerateness  as 
these  ?  The  very  truths  that  are  here  revealed  are  evidences 
that  Moses  wrote,  not  under  the  prescriptions  of  human  genius, 
but  according  to  the  inspiration  of  God  himself.  No  hiws  of 
Solon,  or  of  any  other  ancient  legislator,  are  for  a  moment  to 
be  compared  with  these.     There  is  no  basis  of  comparison 


178  SCPtirXURE    READINGS. 

—  there  is  contrast,  instead  of  comparison.  Yet  these  are 
the  laws  of  a  then  barbarous  people,  just  emancipated  from 
the  thraldom  of  Egypt. 

Now,  the  tirst  of  these,  as  indeed  all,  are  for  the  guidance 
of  judges,  and  of  all  who  have  judicial  functions  to  fulfil  — 
"  Thou  shalt  not  raise  a  false  report  "  —  that  is,  you  shall 
have  no  malignant  feeling  towards  your  neighbor,  and  you 
shall  not  indulge  that  malignant  feeling,  if  it  do  exist,  by  trying 
to  take,  away  his  good  name.  People  do  not  always  estimate 
this  offence  as  they  should  ;  but  it  really  is  one  of  the  worst 
depredations.  "  He  that  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash  ;  't  is 
his,  'tis  mine,  'tis  everybody's  ;  but  he  that  takes  away  my 
good  name,  takes  that  which  not  enricheth  him,  and  makes 
me  poor  indeed."' 

Where  did  the  great  poet  learn  this  true  and  beautiful 
thought  ?  Either  from  the  inspiration  of  human  genius, 
which  sometimes  approaches  near  to  divine  grace,  or  he 
borrowed  it  —  as  is  most  likely  —  from  the  word  of  God. 

Then  he  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do 
evil."  The  w^ord  multitude  is  the  translation  of  the  Hebrew 
word  Rahhim ;  and  this  word  is  the  origin  of  the  Hebrew 
term  Rabbi,  as  applied  to  the  chief  teachers  or  instructors  of 
the  Jews ;  and  some  of  the  best  translators  hold,  that  we 
ought  not  to  render  it,  "  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude 
to  do  evil,"  but  that  we  ought  to  translate  it,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  follow  the  Rabbis,  thou  shalt  not  follow  the  greatest  or 
chiefest  teachers  to  do  that  which  is  evil."  In  other  words, 
"  If  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel, 
let  liim  be  anathema ; "  or,  translated  into  modern  language, 
if  all  the  priests,  and  prelates,  and  popes  of  Christendom 
together,  constituting  the  true  or  pretended  teachers  of  the 
earth,  were  to  tell  you  to  shut  your  Bible,  or  to  worship 
images  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  wood,  and  stone,  or  to  com- 
mand you  to  do  any  thing  that  this  book  declares  to  be  evil, 
in  such  a  case  this  is  the  law  that  must  regulate  your  con- 


EXODUS    XXII r.  179 

duct,  "  Thou  slialt  not  follow  all  the  teachers  of  KiiL^land, 
of  Scotland,  or  of  Rome,  to  do  that  which  is  evil ;  "  in  olher 
words,  you  must  take  jour  directions  from  God's  mouth,  not 
from  the  Pope,  or  the  most  honorable  or  the  greatest  of  men 
that  give  [)rescrii)tions  of  an  opposite  nature. 

lie  adds,  "  Neither  shalt  thou  countenance  a  poor  man 
in  his  cause."  Now  this  seems,  at  first  sight,  very  dilHcult 
to  understand.  One  would  think  that  we  ought  to  counte- 
nance a  poor  man  in  his  cause  ;  but  the  meaning  of  it  is  this  : 
If  a  poor  man  is  accused  of  a  crime,  and  brought  before  a 
judicial  tribunal,  then,  just  as  you  should  not  do  any 
thing  that  is  partial,  because  a  great  man  has  committed  a 
crime,  and  is  tried  for  it,  so  you  are  not,  out  of  mere  pity,  to 
let  a  criminal  escape,  because  he  is  a  poor  man.  In  other 
words,  you  are  just  to  act  upon  the  principle  which  prevails 
in  our  native  land.  If  a  man  is  brought  before  the  tribunals 
of  our  own  country,  it  is  the  glory  of  our  land  —  and  a 
great  glory  it  is  —  that  the  poor  man  and  the  rich  man  will 
both  have  a  fair  trial  and  no  favor.  The  poor  man's  poverty 
is  not  to  make  you  so  pitiful  that  you  shall  try  to  make  him 
appear  innocent,  when  you  gather  from  evidence  that  he  is 
guilty  ;  and  a  man's  riches  are  not  so  to  dazzle  you,  that 
you  shall  endeavor  to  shield  his  crime,  because  he  is  a  great, 
and,  as  reputed,  an  honorable  man. 

This  seems  also,  in  some  degree,  to  refer  to  barristers  and 
pleaders.  Many  persons  have  had  doubts  upon  a  subject 
connected  with  this  profession  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  there 
ought  to  be  none.  The  law  of  our  country  requires  that  the 
greatest  criminal  shall  have  a  fair  trial.  Suspicion  shall  not 
condemn  him,  and  your  own  feelings  shall  not  prejudge  him  ; 
and,  therefore,  if  a  barrister  is  called  upon  to  defend  a  great 
criminal,  it  is  right  that  he  should  state  what  room  for  doubt 
exists  —  that  he  should  state  every  point  that  is  favoral)le, 
if  it  be  fixct,  to  the  establishment  of  the  innocence  of  his 
client.     However  guilty  a  man  may  be,  he  should  have  a 


180  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

fair  and  impartical  trial.  Let  clear  law  and  conclusive 
proofs  decide,  and  nothing  less.  We  are  not  to  let  a  man 
escape  punishment  because  he  is  great,  nor  are  we  to  try  to 
let  a  man  escape  because  he  is  poor.  Neither  our  suspicions, 
nor  his  circumstances,  should  decide.  We  are  to  deal  im- 
partial justice  to  all,  saying  all  that  can  be  truly  said  for 
the  worst,  and  nothing  untrue  for  the  best. 

Now,  these  laws  were  not  merely  for  a  certain  age :  they 
are  the  laws  that  ought  to  regulate  judicial  proceedings  at 
all  times  and  in  all  countries. 

How  very  beautiful  is  this  regulation,  "  If  thou  meet  thine 
enemy's  ox  or  his  ass  going  astray,  thou  shalt  surely  bring 
it  back  to  him  again."  You  are  not  to  say,  No,  I  am  glad 
that  such  an  one,  who  has  injured  me,  has  met  with  misfor- 
tune ;  but  you  are,  if  a  Christian,  not  only  to  pray  for  your 
enemies,  but  to  help  them,  if  you  can. 

Again,  in  the  sixth  verse,  he  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  wrest 
the  judgment  of  thy  poor  in  his  cause  "  —  that  is,  you  shall 
not  try  to  pervert  it,  because  he  is  poor. 

.And  again  :  "Thou  shalt  take  no  gift;  for  the  gift  blind- 
eth  the  Avise."  That  does  not  mean  a  private  person  may 
not ;  but,  referring  to  judges  upon  the  bench,  the  law  says, 
that  they  (the  judges)  shall  not  take  a  gift. 

I  dare  say  many  of  you  may  have  heard  of  the  celebrated 
Sir  Matthew  Hale,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  a 
present  from  a  person  annually ;  and  it  happened  once,  that 
about  the  usual  time  when  this  friend  made  him  the  present, 
that  he  was  accused  of  some  offence,  and  was  to  appear  as 
an  accused  person  before  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  On  this  occa- 
sion Sir  Matthew  Hale  returned  him  the  present,  lest  it 
should  afford  even  the  shadow  of  a  suspicion  that  the  purity 
of  judicial  impartiality  should  be  disturbed,  or  seem  to  be 
disturbed,  by  a  gift  from  one  who  was  to  appear  before  the 
court  accused  of  an  oflTence,  and  demanding  a  fair  trial. 
And  I  believe  still  it  would  be  thought  the  most  scandalous 


EXODUS  xxiir.  181 

outrage  upon  our  constitution,  and  every  judge  would  repu- 
diate it  with  scorn  and  disdain,  were  any  one,  expecting  to 
have  his  cause  tried  by  that  judge,  to  attempt  to  propitiate 
his  favor  by  gifts.  Now,  this  beautiful  rule  —  so  just,  so 
reasonable,  so  proper  —  was  anticipated  and  was  known, 
you  observe,  three  thousand  years  ago,  and  was  first  re- 
vealed by  Him  who  is  the  Fountain  of  all  wisdom  and  of 
all  justice. 

We  have,  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  verses,  a  very  impor- 
tant law — of  course  inap[)licable  to  us  —  viz.,  for  six  years 
they  were  to  cultivate  their  land,  and  the  seventh  year  they 
were  to  allow  it  to  lie  fallow  —  partly  for  the  sake  of  the 
land,  and  partly  for  the  sake  of  the  poor :  and  God  made 
the  harvests  abundant  in  the  sixth  year,  in  order  to  compen- 
sate for  the  deficiency,  or  rather,  utter  cessation,  of  the  sev- 
enth year,  that  followed. 

This  law  was  national,  peculiar,  and  is  not  obligatory 
upon  us,  though  merciful  to  them,  and  adapted  to  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  were  placed. 

But  lest  they  should  suppose  that  this  seventh  year  Sab- 
bath was  to  do  away  with  the  regular  Sabbath,  it  is  added, 
"  Six  days  thou  shalt  do  thy  work  ;  and  on  the  seventh  day 
thou  shalt  rest :  that  thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest,  and 
the  son  of  thy  handmaid,  and  the  stranger,  may  be  re- 
freshed." 

Now,  this  seventh  year  was  for  the  universal  physical  rest 
and  enjoyment  of  the  people ;  and  the  Sabbath,  or  seventh 
day,  was  especially  meant  for  the  religious  instruction  and 
spiritual  rest  of  the  people.  In  addition  to  the  Sabbath, 
therefore,  you  observe,  there  was  a  year  during  which  the 
people  were  to  have  rest ;  and  I  think  that,  in  our  land,  it 
would  tend  to  the  sacredness  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  as  it 
would  also  tend  to  the  substantial  good  of  the  people,  if  there 
were  to  be  throughout  the  year,  days,  or  even  pai-t  of  days, 
in  which  the  mill  should  stand  still,  the  hum  of  business 
16 


182  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

should  be  hushed,  and  the  hard-working  man  should  be  per- 
mitted to  rest  physically  for  a  little.  And  it  is  this,  I  have 
often  said,  —  what  I  am  perfectly  sure  is  right  —  that  is  the 
cause  of  the  present  demand  for  the  desecration  of  the  Sab- 
bath—  for  such  I  must  call  it ;  a  demand  that  is  the  reac- 
tion of  the  grinding  exaction  of  the  masters,  who  work  their 
servants  beyond  what  is  due,  and  necessitate  rest  for  the 
body  on  the  Sabbath,  when  there  ought  to  be  religious  in- 
struction and  improvement  also.  And  while  on  this  subject, 
I  may  mention,  that  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  in 
those  countries  now  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romish  sys- 
tem, there  is  one  fact  that  we  must  acknowledge  to  be  wor- 
thy of  imitation  —  they  have  many  holidays  ;  too  many  in 
Spain,  and  in  some  other  parts,  but  still  in  so  far  desirable ; 
and  thus  we  may  get  from  ancient  days  some  customs  con- 
ducive to  the  health  of  the  people,  meet  for  modern  imita- 
tion. This  is,  so  far,  an  institution  that  we  may  wish  for, 
while  we  reject  the  superstition  in  which  it  may  chance  to 
be  embosomed. 

"  "We  read,  in  the  next  place,  of  the  three  great  festivals 
which  they  were  to  observe,  and  at  which  all  the  people 
were  to  meet  together;  the  three  great  festivals  which 
characterized  the  Jewish  economy,  and  which  were  to  be 
observed  all  the  days  of  its  existence. 

God  says,  "  Behold,  I  send  an  angel  before  thee,  to  keep 
thee  in  the  way."  That  this  was  not  a  created  angel,  ap- 
pears to  me  plain,  from  the  frequent  allusions  to  his  charac- 
ter in  other  portions  of  the  Bible.  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord," 
it  is  in  our  translation  ;  every  Hebrew  scholar  knows  that 
that  is  the  translation  of  Melek  TehovaJi,  which  means,  "  An- 
gel Lord ; "  of  is  not  in  the  original,  it  is  literally,  "  Angel 
Jehovah."  And  the  word  here  which  has  been  rendered 
"Angel,"  might,  with  as  great  propriety,  have  been  ren- 
dered "  Messenger,"  or  "  one  sent."  "  Behold,  I  send  an 
Angel  before  thee,"  —  a  Messenger  before  thee,  —  "  to  keep 


EXODUS    XXTTI.  183 

tliee  in  the  way,  and  to  bring  thee  into  the  place  whicli  I 
have  prepared.  Beware  of  him,  and  obey  his  voice,  pro- 
voke him  not ;  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  transgressions." 
Now,  that  this  is  not  a  created  angel,  is  obvious  from  that 
l^hrase ;  and  never,  at  any  age  of  the  church  that  has  ever 
given  a  sort  of  subordinate  religious  service  to  angels,  did 
it  ever  attribute  to  an  angel  the  prerogative  of  pardoning 
sin.  And  the  very  fact,  therefore,  that  this  Messenger  is 
gifted  to  such  an  extent,  implies  that  he  was  not  a  created 
angel,  but  that  he  was  the  Angel  of  Plis  presence,  of  whom 
Hosea  says,  "  The  Angel  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
his  name."  1  have  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  this  was  our 
blessed  Redeemer,  in  one  of  those  forms  of  humanity  which 
he  took,  and  in  Avhich  he  appeared  before  his  Incarnation, 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  And  this  Angel,  or  Messen- 
ger, appeared  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar 
of  fire  by  night,  by  which  the  people  were  guided  in  their 
way. 

We  thus  see,  then,  how  merciful,  how  just,  how  wise 
these  laws  are ;  we  see  that  civilized  nations  have  not  yet 
got  beyond  them,  and  that  some  of  our  highest  judicial 
arrangements  are  but  copies  or  jilagiarisms  from  what  Infi- 
delity would  call  the  obsolete  and  antiquated  notions  of 
Moses  and  of  the  Jews.  It  has  been  discovered  that  all 
our  improvments  have  not  yet  reached  further  than  Leviti- 
cus, and  perhaps  they  never  will. 

Whilst  there  is  much  that  was  local,  national,  and  pecu- 
liar, there  is  in  all  this  much  that  is  moral  and  universal ; 
as  advantageous  to  man,  as  it  is  honorable  and  glorious  to 
God. 

The  nineteenth  century  is  not  yet  in  advance  of  the 
Christianity  of  the  New  T(;stament.  It  is,  in  many  re- 
spects, behind  the  morality  of  the  Old. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

HOSES     GOES     rr     TO     GOD.      VALUE     OF     A    WRITTEN    WORD.      RE- 
SPONSIBILITY.    THE    SIGHT    OF    GOD.     OUR   PRIVILEGED    PLACE. 

Is  tlie  first  verse  we  find  a  summons  addressed  to  Moses, 
who  was  figuratively  tlie  type  of  tlie  only  Mediator,  Jesus 
Christ,  to  come  up  into  the  immediate  presence  of  Jehovah; 
an  access  so  near  and  intimate  as  had  never  been  vouch- 
safed to  any  creature  before,  and  this  special  communion 
was  given  to  him  rather  from  his  official  relationship  than 
from  his  personal  character.  He  said  that  Aaron,  Nadab, 
and  Abihu,  and  the  seventy  elders  of  Israel,  were  to  wor- 
shij)  afar  olf — evidently  upon  the  mountain  side,  about  its 
middle,  and  not  near  its  top,  or  the  intenser  apocalypse  of 
Deity — Moses  alone  was  to  go  up  to  its  loftiest  crag,  as 
invited,  and  there  hold  connnunion  and  fellowship  with  the 
Great  "I  Am." 

Forthwith  Moses  told  the  people  the  solemn  message  he 
liad  rcci'ived  from  God,  and  all  the  judgments  which  he 
read  to  the  people,  and  submitted  to  their  minds  for  their 
pn-lerence  and  acceptance ;  and  all  the  people  pledged 
thrmsi'lves  to  their  observance  by  a  solemn  and  unanimous 
])nM-lamati()n  —  "All  the;  words  which  tlu'  Lord  hath  said 
will  we  do."  They  were  sincere,  but  too  self-sulhcient  — 
tlx-y  did  not  expect  that  .^o  soon  these  solemn  vows,  uttered 
with  siicii  ein|)haHs,  would  be  forgotten  and  violated.  Some 
vowed  in  their  own  >trength,  some  vowed  rasldy,  and  some 
without  thought.     Others,  however,  strong  in  that  strength 


EXODUS    XXIV.  185 

which  is  made  perfect  in  weakness,  pledged  themselves  to 
an  observance  that  was  as  much  their  privilege  and  duty, 
as  it  was  glorious  and  honorable  to  God. 

We  read  that  "  Moses  wrote  all  the  words  of  the  Lord, 
and  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  builded  an  altar." 
How  important  is  it  now  to  us  that  what  God  revealed 
should  be  written.  The  great  experiment  was  tried  from 
the  Creation  to  the  Deluge,  whether  traditional  transmission 
of  God's  truth  would  prove  adequate ;  and  the  result  of  that 
traditional  transmission  in  the  lapse  of  two  thousand  years, 
was  that  all  flesh  had  corrupted  its  way,  and  that,  with  the 
exception  of  eight  persons,  a  universal  apostasy  had  spread 
over  all  the  earth,  and  infected  all  families.  Now,  there- 
fore, God  commanded  his  Word  not  to  be  intrusted  to  fail- 
ing memories,  and  to  frail  hearts,  for  its  transmission,  but  to 
be  written,  made  a  stereotype,  a  fixture,  upon  living  stone, 
that  the  people  might,  in  all  generations,  have  access  to 
God's  own  Word,  written  in  God's  own  Avay,  and  free  to 
them,  and  to  all  their  children,  without  money  and  without 
price,  for  ever. 

Moses  builded  twelve  pillars  and  an  altar  —  twelve  pil- 
lars to  represent  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  altar  as  a  place 
of  sacrifice,  indicating  that  by  sacrifice  alone,  in  that  dispen- 
sation, there  was  access  to  God. 

We  are  told,  that  "  he  sent  young  men  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  which  offered  burnt-offerings,  and  sacrificed  peace- 
offerings  of  oxen  unto  the  Lord."  The  order  of  the  Levit- 
ical  priesthood  w^as  not  yet  instituted,  and  hence  the  first- 
born of  each  family,  being  regarded  as  the  most  excellent 
in  that  family,  was  selected  to  be  the  officiating  priest,  and 
to  offer  sacrifices  to  God ;  and,  therefore,  he  sent  young 
men  —  the  first-born  —  of  the  children  of  Israel,  to  ofier  up 
these  burnt-offerings. 

The  sacrifice  was  slain,  and  the  blood  was  shed,  in  order 
to  enable  the  people,  in  a  yet  more  solemn  manner,  to  ratify 
IG* 


186  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

by  sacrifice  the  promise  they  had  given,  in  so  many  words. 
And  when  they  had  thus  ratified  the  pledge  by  sacrifice, 
they  substantially  said,  "As  the  blood  of  this  lamb  is  shed 
ancl  poured  out  on  the  altar,  so  may  we  suffer  death,  with  all 
its  con.>e([uences,  if  we  do  not  cleave  to  these  solemn  obliga- 
tions that  Ave  have  undertaken,  from  the  mouth  of  Moses, 
the  servant  of  God,  this  day."  It  was,  therefore,  a  very 
solemn  pledge  of  adhesion  to  the  commandments  which  God 
had  promulgated,  and  a  unanimous  declaration  that  they 
were  not  ashamed  to  own  themselves  the  Lord's. 

"  Then  went  up  Moses  and  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu, 
and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel "  —  Moses  the  nearest  to 
the  top  —  and  the  others  to  remain  at  the  middle  of  the 
mountain. 

And  what  an  instance  have  we,  in  Nadab  and  Abihu,  of 
great  privilege  to-day  being  followed  by  great  sin  and  heavy 
judgment  to-morrow.  Only  a  short  time  afterwards,  Nadab 
and  Abihu  both  incurred  the  penalty  of  death  for  offering 
strange  fire ;  as  if  to  teach  us  that  people  may  enjoy  the 
utmost  privilege,  may  be  raised  to  heaven  by  their  privi- 
leges, and  may  yet  sink  to  the  depths  of  ruin  by  their  sins. 
Justly  does  our  Lord  say,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for 
such — and  that  if  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  known  those  things 
that  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  knew,  they  would  have  re- 
pented long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  aslies. 

We  have  here  also  a  sublime  and  impressive  portrait  of 
the  glory  of  God.  It  is  plain  they  did  not  see  a  human 
shape  when  they  saw  the  Deity  ;  but  the  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day,  and  the  pillar  of  lire  by  night,  revealed  to  them  the 
intensest  splendor,  and  they  themselves  were  brought  nearer 
into  contact  and  communion  with  it.  We  are  told  by  an 
apostle,  "  God,  whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see."  The 
human  eye  cannot  see  a  spirit ;  spirit  may  see  spirit,  but 
flesh  and  blood  cannot  now  see  spiritual  and  eternal  things. 


EXODUS    XXIV.  187 

It  is,  therefore,  undoubtedly  true,  that  God  no  man  "  hath 
seen,  or  can  see."  What  Moses  thereibre  saw,  was,  no 
doubt,  the  awful  splendor  of  the  presence  of  God — the 
glory  that  burned  between  the  cherubims,  the  bright  splen- 
dor that  shone  in  the  majestic  cloud  that  preceded  them  in 
their  journey,  showing  them  the  dangers  and  dilficulties  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  called  elsewhere  the  Shechi- 
nah.  They  described  the  appearance  by  saying,  "  There 
was  under  his  feet  as  it  were  the  paved  work  of  a  sapphire 
stone  "  —  that  is,  the  color  of  the  firmament  —  "  and  as  it 
were  the  body  of  heaven  in  1ms  clearness." 

And  then,  it  seems  always  to  have  been  the  impression 
that  to  see  God  was  to  cease  to  live,  and  that  death  was  the 
necessary  result  of  a  near  and  intimate  sight  of  Deity.  And 
this  accounts  for  the  language,  "And  upon  the  nobles  "  — 
that  is,  Moses,  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  and  the  seventy 
elders,  the  persons  that  were  specially  favored  —  "  God  hud 
not  his  hand  "  —  that  is,  he  did  not  destroy  them  —  "  also 
they  saw  God,  and  did  eat  and  drink  "  —  these  words  imply- 
ing that  this  bright  vision  did  not  overwhelm  them,  that  it 
did  not  prevent  them  from  engaging  in  the  ordinary  duties, 
employments,  and  enjoyments  of  life,  and  that  they  acted 
and  felt  as  men  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts. 
True  religion  does  not  interrupt  life's  lowliest  duties. 

Moses  then,  at  the  command  of  God,  went  up  closer  and 
nearer  to  His  presence,  commanding  the  elders  to  tarry  there 
until  he  should  come  again,  and  leaving  Aaron  and  Hur,  as 
bis  representatives  among  the  people,  in  case  of  any  dispute 
or  quarrel  breaking  out  amongst  them,  that  thus  there  n:iight 
be  present  persons  competent  to  entertain  and  settle  it. 

AVe  then  read  that  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord  abode  upon 
Mount  Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it  six  days  ;  and  the 
seventh  day"  — that  is,  on  the  Sabbath  — "he  called  unto 
Moses  out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud."  And  Moses,  we  are 
told,  was  forty  days  and  forty  nights  in  the  3Iount. 


188  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

How  thankful  slioukl  we  be,  that  the  God  revealed  in  the 
Gospel  is  not  the  inapproachable  glory,  the  consuming  fire, 
but  our  Father.  How  thankful  should  we  be  that  no  indi- 
vidual upon  earth  —  the  loftiest  prince  or  the  highest  priest 
—  has  any  precedence  in  his  approach  to  God  :  the  humblest 
Christian  has  as  free  a  right  of  access  to  God  as  the  greatest 
and  most  illustrious  in  the  land.  It  is  true  of  all,  it  is  writ- 
ten for  all,  "  Let  us  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace  ;  that 
we  may  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace  to  help  us  in  the  time 
of  need."  And  let  us  praise  God  that  we  are  not  come  to 
Mount  Sinai,  and  to  the  black^iess  of  darkness,  and  tempest, 
and  the  voice  of  words  so  terrible  that  Moses  said,  "  I  ex- 
ceedingly fear  and  quake,"  and  if  a  beast  should  touch  the 
mountain,  it  was  to  be  destroyed ;  but  we  are  come  to  a 
brighter  and  happier  dispensation  —  we  are  come  to  Mount 
Zion,  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  to  the  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem, to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  unto  Jesus  the  Mediator  of 
the  new  Covenant,  whose  blood  speaketh  better  things  than 
the  blood  of  Abeh 


CHAPTEE,    XXV. 

THE  TABERXACLE.  ITS  USE  AXD  DESIGN.  ITS  MIXCTI.E  NOT 
MEANINGLESS.  ANALOGIES.  PLACES  OF  WOIISIIIP.  ECCLESI- 
ASTICAL  POLITICS.      EXCLUSIVENESS. 

The  following  is  an  instructive  account  of  the  Taber- 
nacle :  — 

"  As  we  enter  in  the  present  chapter  upon  the  directions 
given  to  Moses  for  the  erection  and  furnishing  of  the  sacred 
structure  called  the  Tabernacle,  it  will  be  proper  to  dwell  a 
little  in  the  outset  upon  the  grand  design  of  an  edifice  so 
remarkable  in  itself,  and  holding  so  prominent  a  place  in  the 
Mosaic  economy.  The  Tabernacle  was,  in  fact,  the  central 
object  in  tlie  Jewish  system  of  worship,  and  without  a  tole- 
rably correct  idea  of  its  form,  uses,  and  ends,  our  view  of 
the  genius  and  scope  of  the  Hebrew  ritual  will  be  essentially- 
defective.  It  may  perhaps  be  admitted,  that  as  some  of 
these  ends  were  of  typical  import,  pointing  forward  to  a 
period  of  the  Christian  dispensation  which  has  not  yet  been 
fully  developed,  we  may  not  be  able  to  unfold,  in  all  its  ful- 
ness, in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  the  entire  reach 
of  meaning  w^hich  in  the  divine  mind  was  couched  under 
this  significant  structure,  and  its  successor  the  Temple.  Yet 
with  the  lights  reflected  upon  it  from  the  expositions  of  the 
New  Testament  and  the  predictions  of  tlie  Old,  we  may 
doubtless  attain  to  an  interesting  and  edifying  insight  into  its 
leading  drift.  AVe  are  persuaded  that  it  is  a  study  fraught 
with  the  most  imi)ortant  practical  results,  and  though  gene- 
rally considered,  like  the  other  symbolical  portions  of   the 


190  SCRIPTURE    READINGS.  ^ 

Scriptures,  as  constituting  a  field  of  mere  curious,  flxnciful, 
and  speculative  research,  yet  we  cannot  question  that  this 
opinion  will  be  erelong  entirely  reversed  by  a  deeper  rever- 
ence for  every  part  of  revelation  subordinating  to  itself  the 
irrepressible  s[)irit  of  inquiry  which  is  pervading  every  de- 
partment of  knowledge,  whether  scientific  or  sacred,  natural 
or  supernatural.  The  book  of  revelation,  like  the  book  of 
nature,  is  designed  to  be  of  gradual  development ;  and  we 
know  not  wdiy  it  is  not  as  reasonable  to  look  for  the  opening 
of  new  mines  of  scriptural  wealth  as  of  new  mineral  trea- 
sures, that  have  been  imbedded  for  ages  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  —  But  to  the  point  which  we  have  more  immediately 
in  hand. 

"  The  opinion  has  been  widely  entertained,  that  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  world,  under  the  impression  of  the  grand 
truth  that  '  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,'  —  that  this  divine  spirit 
filled  all  things,  and  was  equally  present  in  all  parts  of  his 
creation  —  men  had  no  sacred  places,  but  worshipped  God 
wherever  and  whenever  their  hearts  were  drawn  forth  to- 
wards him  in  veneration,  gratitude,  or  love.  To  the  sound- 
ness of  this  opinion  thus  broadly  expressed,  we  are  disposed 
to  object,  on  the  same  grounds  on  which  we  object  to  the 
theory  that  makes  the  primitive  state  of  man  a  savage  state. 
It  is  not,  we  conceive,  in  accordance  ivkh  the  recorded  facts  of 
inspired  history.  We  cannot  but  conclude,  from  tlie  tenor 
of  the  sacred  narrative,  that  from  the  creation  of  Adam  to 
the  ])resent  time,  God  has  dealt  with  man  by  way  of  express 
revelation.  The  infancy  of  the  race  was  cradled  in  the  midst 
of  supernatural  disclosures,  and  the  light  of  the  divine  mani- 
festations continued  to  shine  with  brighter  or  dimmer  beams 
upon  its  advancing  youth  and  manhood,  up  to  the  riper  age 
which  it  lias  now  attained.  With  the  record  of  Genesis 
before  us,  we  cannot  ((nest ion  tliat  Jehovah  manifested  him- 
self between  the  clierubims  at  the    east  of  the  garden  of 


EXODUS    XXV.  191 

Eden,  and  that  this  earliest  exhibition  of  the  vShecliinali  waa 
the  appointed  place  of  worship  for  Adam  and  his  family, 
the  place  to  which  Cain  and  Abel  hromjlit  their  oblations, 
and  the  place  from  which  Cain,  after  the  murder  of  his 
brother,  retired  in  miserable  exile,  when  he  is  said  to  have 
fled  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  True  it  is,  tliat  tlic 
major  part  of  the  race  lapsed,  by  a  very  early  defcctipn, 
into  the  grossest  idolatry,  and  the  visible  symbols  of  the 
divine  presence,  if  enjoyed  at  all,  were  confined  to  a  select 
few ;  but  we  know  not  that  w'e  are  warranted  in  the  belief 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  or  of  the  right  mode  of 
worshipping  him,  has  at  any  time  become  entirely  extinct 
on  earth.  As  a  matter,  however,  of  historical  fact,  it  is 
unquestionable  that  most  of  the  early  nations  of  the  world, 
under  the  promptings  of  a  religious  principle,  rendered  their 
worship,  such  as  it  was,  in  a  vague  and  informal  manner, 
without  temple  or  ritual,  to  the  invisible  Deity  in  whom  they 
were  taught  to  believe.  It  was  not  unnatural  that  in  these 
circumstances  they  should  have  selected  the  tops  of  moun- 
tains and  the  shades  of  groves  as  the  seat  of  their  worship, 
and  there  fixed  their  altars  for  sacrifice.  But  in  process  of 
time,  as  men  sank  deeper  and  deeper  into  idolatry,  the  prac- 
tice of  worshipping  on  high  places  and  in  groves  became 
associated  with  so  many  vile  abominations,  that  it  was  utterly 
forbidden  to  the  Israelites,  to  whom  God  was  pleased  to  pre- 
scribe a  localized  worship,  first  within  the  precincts  of  a 
Tabernacle,  and  afterwards  of  a  Temple.  The  Tabernacle 
was  little  else  than  a  portable  temple  ;  as  no  other  kind  of 
structure  would  have  suited  the  earlier  circumstances  of 
the  chosen  race.  A  nomade  people  would  of  course  have  a 
movable  temple  ;  and,  among  a  tent  dwelling  people,  tiiat 
temple  would  naturally  be  a  tent  or  a  portable  fabric  of 
wood.  An  immovable  temple  could  only  be  expected  to  be 
found  among  a  settled  race;  and  when  a  moving  peoi)Ie 
become  settled,  and  exchange  their  tents  for  houses,  in  like 


192  SCRirXUKE    READINGS. 

manner  their  movable  tabernacles  become  fixed  temples. 
'See  now,'  said  David,  'I  dwell  in  a  house  of  cedar,  but  the 
ark  of  God  dwelleth  between  curtains.'  He  therefore  pro- 
posed that  the  house  of  God  should  be  no  longer  a  tent,  but 
a  fabric  of  stone,  in  accordance  with  the  altered  circum- 
stances of  the  people.  But  until  the  Israelites  were  settled 
in  #(e  land  of  promise,  their  sacred  edifice,  if  they  had  one, 
must  necessarily  be  such  as  they  could  easily  take  to  pieces 
and  transfer  from  place  to  place.  The  object  of  such  a 
building  was  not,  like  that  of  our  churches,  as  a  place  of 
shelter  for  the  assembled  worshippers,  for  the  worshippers 
assembled  not  in  the  temples,  but  in  the  courts  before  or 
around  them  ;  nor  yet  as  places  for  offering  sacrifices,  for 
the  sacrifices  were  also  offered  in  the  courts.  Its  true  de- 
sign was  as  a  mansion  of  the  Deity,  a  dwelling-place  for  the 
divine  presence.  This  Avas  especially  and  preeminently  the 
object  of  the  Jewish  Tabernacle.  It  was  intended  as  a 
habitation  of  the  visible  symbol  of  Jehovah,  or  the  Shech- 
inah,  as  the  God  and  King  of  the  chosen  people,  who,  as  we 
have  seen  above,  is  emphatically  designated  '  the  God  of 
Israel.' 

"  In  ordering  the  construction  of  such  a  building,  we  may 
admit  tliat  there  was  an  accommodation  to  ideas  then  very 
universally  prevalent,  and  which  from  their  residence  in 
Egypt  had  become  familiar  to  the  minds  of  the  Israelites. 
Tlie  Egyptians  and  other  heathen  nations  boasted  of  the 
presence  of  tlieir  gods  among  them  in  their  temples  and 
tabernacle^ ;  and  as  God  had  been  pleased  from  the  earliest 
periods  to  reveal  himself  to  the  patriarchs  by  visible  mani- 
festation, it  was  not  unnatural  that  he  should  at  length  con- 
fer u})on  his  people  the  permanent  tokens  of  a  peculiar  local 
presence  in  some  such  striking  and  glorious  symbol  as  that 
of  the  Shechinah.  AVilh  this  view  he  directed  the  Taberna- 
cle to  be  erected  as  a  suitable  abode  for  his  visible  majesty. 
As  such,  it  possessed  the  twofold  character  of  a  Sanctuary, 


EXODUS   XXV.  193 

or  holy  place,  a  place  of  worship  ;  and  of  a  Royal  Palace  ; 
where  lie  would  keep  the  state  of  a  court,  as  suprcnu'  civil 
magistrate  and  king  of  Israel;  from  whence  he  would  issue 
his  laws  and  commandments  as  from  an  oracle,  and  where 
he  was  to  receive  the  homage  and  tribute  of  his  subjects. 
This  idea  of  the  Tabernacle,  as  in  part  that  of  a  palace  for 
a  king,  will  seem  perfectly  clear  to  every  one  who  carefully 
notes  the  terms  in  which  this  building,  and  also  the  Temple, 
are  spoken  of  and  referred  to  throughout  the  Scriptures; 
and  we  doubt  not  it  is  a  view  essential  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  these  structures  and  the  things  which  belonged 
to  them.  It  is  a  view  also  which  is  held  by  the  Jews  them- 
selves, who  carry  out  the  analogy,  and  regard  the  utensils 
of  the  Tabernacle  as  palace  furniture,  and  the  priests  as  its 
ministers  of  state  and  olHcers.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fol- 
lowing comment  of  Rab.  Shem  Tob  on  Maimonides,  as  cited 
by  Outrani  on  Sacrifices,  Diss.  I.  §  3.  '  God,  to  whom  be 
praise,  commanded  a  house  to  be  built  for  him  resembling  a 
royal  palace.  In  a  royal  palace  are  to  be  found  all  the 
things  that  we  have  mentioned.  There  are  some  persons 
who  guard  the  palace ;  others  who  execute  ollices  belonging 
to  the  royal  dignity,  who  furnish  the  banquets,  and  do  other 
necessary  services  for  the  monarch ;  others  who  daily  enter- 
tain him  with  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental.  In  a 
royal  palace  there  is  a  place  appointed  for  the  preparation 
of  victuals,  and  another  [nearer  the  Presence]  where  per- 
fumes are  burned.  In  the  palace  of  a  king  there  is  also  a 
table,  and  an  apartment  exclusively  appropriated  to  him- 
self, which  no  one  ever  enters,  except  him  who  is  next  in 
authority,  or  those  whom  he  regards  with  the  greatest 
affection.  In  hke  manner  it  was  the  will  of  God  to  have  all 
these  in  his  house,  that  he  might  not  in  any  thing  give  i)lace 
to  the  kings  of  the  earth.  For  he  is  a  great  king,  not 
indeed  in  want  of  these  things :  but  hence  it  is  easy  to  see 
the  reason  of  the  daily  provisions  given  to  the  priests  and 
17 


194  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Levites,  being  ^vhat  every  monarch  is  accustomed  to  allow 
his  servants.  And  all  these  things  were  intended  to  instruct 
the  people  that  the  Lord  of  Hosts  was  present  among  us, 
<  For  he  is  a  great  king,  and  to  be  feared  by  all  the  nations.' 
These  analogies  will  be  the  more  apparent  when  it  is  re- 
membered, that  the  comparisons  are  to  be  referred  to  an 
Oriental  rather  than  a  European  palace.' 

"  We  do  not,  however,  consider  it  sufficient  to  regard  such 
a  view  of  the  Tabernacle  as  founded  solely  upon  the  usages 
of  royalty  as  then  existing.  We  are  satisfied  that  its  typical 
design  is  necessary  to  account  for  those  features  which  it 
possessed  in  common  with  the  palaces  of  kings.  The  Glory 
that  dwelt  both  in  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Temple  was  pre- 
intimative  of  the  even  yet  future  manifested  glory  of  Christ, 
to  Avhich  the  '  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature '  has  been 
long  looking  forward,  and  of  which  the  incipient  dawnings 
begin  now  faintly  to  appear.  The  import  of  the  ancient 
visible  Shechinah  and  its  material  habitation  has  never  yet 
been  realized  as  it  is  destined  to  be  in  the  latter  day  on 
earth ;  nor  do  we  conceive  it  possible  to  gain  a  full  and  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  Idngly  features  of  this  typical  establish- 
ment without  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  the  Saviour, 
combining  sacerdotal  sanctity  with  royal  dignity,  shall  sit  'a 
pi'iest  upon  his  throne,^  in  the  earthly  Zion,  in  accordance 
Avith  the  entire  drift  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies. 
This  is  the  state  to  which  the  anticipations  of  all  Christians 
arc  realhj  directed  —  a  state  which  is  to  be  ultimately 
evolved  out  of  the  present  by  a  stupendous  order  of  changes, 
moral,  political,  and  physical.  The  New  Jerusalem  of  the 
Apocalypse  is  the  grand  object  of  the  Christian's  hope  ;  and 
it  is  in  that  glorious  dispensation,  the  theatre  of  which  is 
the  earth  tiiat  we  now  iniiabit,  that  we  are  to  look  for  the 
substantial  realities  so  strikingly  figured  in  the  ritual  appara- 
tus of  the  old  economy.  It  is  the  state  constituted  by  the 
fmal  development  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  out  of  the 


EXODUS    XXV.  195 

regenerated  and  transferred  dominions  and  dynasties  of  the 
earth,  over  wliich  Jesus  Christ  is  to  reign  in  i^isible  majesty^ 
liis  redeemed  peoph3  being  made,  in  some  way  at  present 
inscrutable  to  us,  to  share  with  him  in  tlie  beatitudi's  and 
glories  of  his  eternal  kingship.  It  is  in  that  dispensation, 
or  perhaps  we  may  say,  in  that  stage  of  this  disi)ensati()ii, 
that  the  things  mystically  foreshown  by  the  Tabernacle 
structure  and  tlie  Tabernacle  furniture  will  be  made  real. 
It  will  then  appear  how  admirably  adapted  it  was  in  its  two- 
fold character  of  Sanctuary  and  Palace  to  correspond  with 
the  twofold  functions  of  Christ  as  Priest  and  King.  But 
the  further  unfolding  of  this  view  of  the  subject  would  carry 
us  imperceptibly  into  the  region  of  prophetic  exposition, 
wliich  our  present  plan  does  not  embrace. 

"The  detailed  and  minute  account  which  we  propose  to 
give  of  every  part  of  the  Tabernacle  may  be  })refaced  with 
the  following  general  description,  for  the  most  part  in  the 
words  of  the  Editor  of  the  Pictorial  Bible.  First  there  was 
the  area  or  court  in  which  the  Tabernacle  stood.  This  was 
of  an  oblong  figure  of  a  hundred  cubits  (about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet)  long,  by  fifty  cubits  (al)out  seventy-five  feet) 
broad;  and  the  height  of  the  inclosing  curtain  was  five 
cubits,  or  nearly  three  yards,  being  half  the  height  of  the 
Tabernacle.  The  inclosure  was  formed  by  a  plain  hanging 
of  fine  twined  linen  yarn,  wliich  S(?ems  to  have  been  worked 
in  an  open  or  network  texture,  so  that  the  i)eople  with- 
out might  freely  see  the  interior.  The  door  curtain  was, 
however,  of  a  different  texture  from  the  general  hanging, 
being  a  great  curtain  of  Mine  twined  linen,'  embroidered 
with  blue,  purple,  and  scarlet.  It  is  i)reseril)ed  in  jireeisely 
the  same  terms  as  the  door  curtain  of  the  Tabernaele  itself, 
which  was  not,  as  commonly  stated,  of  the  same  fabric  willi 
the  inner  covering  of  the  Tabernacle,  and  the  veil  before 
the  holy  of  holies;  for  in  the  description  of  the  two  door 
curtains  there  is  no  mention  of  the  figures  of  cherubim  and 


19G  SCKirTURE    HEADINGS. 

the  fancy  work  ('cunning  work')  which  decorated  the  inner 
covering  and  vail.  The  door  curtain  of  the  court  was 
furnished  with  cords,  by  which  it  might  be  drawn  up  or 
aside  when  the  priests  had  occasion  to  enter.  The  curtains 
of  this  inclosure  were  hung  upon  sixty  pillars  of  brass, 
standing  on  bases  of  the  same  metal,  but  with  capitals  and 
fillets  of  silver.  (Compare  the  description  in  this  chapter 
with  that  in  chapter  xxxviii.)  Tlie  hooks,  also,  to  which 
the  curtains  were  attached,  were  of  silver.  The  entrance 
of  tlie  court  was  at  the  east  end,  opposite  that  to  the  Taber- 
nacle ;  and  between  them  stood  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
but  nearer  to  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle  than  to  that  of  the 
court.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the  brazen  laver  was  inter- 
posed between  the  altar  and  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle  or 
not.  Chapter  xxx.  18,  certainly  conveys  that  impression; 
but  the  Rabbins,  Avho  appear  to  have  felt  that  nothing  could 
properly  interpose  between  the  altar  and  Tabernacle,  say 
tliat  the  laver  was  indeed  nearer  to  the  Tabernacle  than 
was  tlie  altar,  but  still  that  it  did  not  stand  in  the  same  line 
with  the  altar,  but  stood  a  little  on  one  side  to  the  south. 
A§  to  the  position  of  the  Tabernacle  in  the  court,  nothing  is 
said  in  the  Scriptures  on  the  subject,  but  it  seems  less  proba- 
ble that  it  stoofd  in  the  centre  than  that  it  was  placed  toward 
the  further  or  western  extremity,  so  as  to  allow 'greater 
space  for  the  services  which  were  to  be  performed  exclu- 
sively in  front  of  tlie  Tabernacle. 

"  Tlie  fabric  ])roperly  called  the  Tabernacle  having  mov- 
able walls  of  board,  was  of  a  more  substantial  character  than 
a  tent;  but  it  isright  to  regard  it  as  a  tent,  its  general  ap- 
pearance and  ariangement  being  the  same,  and  its  more  sub- 
stantial fabric  being  probably  on  account  of  the  weight  of  its 
several  envelopes,  which  required  stronger  supports  than  are 
usually  necessary.  It  was  of  nn  oblong  figure,  fifty-five  feet 
in  length,  by  eighteen  feet  in  breadth  and  height.  Its  length 
extended  from  east  to  west,  the  entrance  being  at  the  east 


EXODUS    XXV.  197 

end.  The  two  sides  and  west  end  consisted  of  a  framework 
of  boards,  of  which  there  were  twenty  on  each  side  and 
eight  at  the  west  end.  The  manner  in  which  these  boards 
were  joined  to  each  other,  so  as  to  Ibrin  a  wall  wldch  might 
be  easily  taken  down  and  set  up  again,  may  be  illustrated  in 
some  degree  by  a  reference  to  the  window-shutters  of  au  ex- 
tensive shop ;  but  the  boards  of  the  Tabernacle  did  not  slide 
in  grooves,  but  each  was  furnished  at  the  bottom  with  two 
tenons,  which  were  received  into  sockets  in  the  bases  of  solid 
silver;  and  to  give  the  whole  greater  securit}^,  the  boards 
were  furnished  each  with  live  rings  or  staples  of  gold,  by 
means  of  which  they  were  successively  run  up  to  their 
proper  places  on  horizontal  poles  or  bai-s,  which  served  as 
the  ribs  of  the  fabric,  binding  its  parts  together.  The 
boards  as  well  as  the  bars  were  of  shittim  wood,  overlaid 
with  thin  plates  of  gold.  The  east  end,  being  the  entrance, 
had  no  boaids,  but  was  furnished  with  five  pillars  of  shittim 
wood  overlaid  with  gold,  and  each  standing  on  a  socket  of 
brass.  Four  similar  pillars  within  the  Tabernacle,  towards 
the  west  or  further  end,  supi)orted  a  rich  hanging,  which 
divided  the  interior  into  two  a{)artments,  of  which  the  outer 
was  called  '  the  holy  place,'  and  the  innermo.-t  and  smallest 
was  'the  most  holy  place,'  or  the  'Holy  of  Holies,'  in  which 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  was  more  immediately  manifested. 
The  separating  hanging  was  called  by  way  of  eminence, 
*  the  vail  ;'  and  hence  the  expression  '  within  '  or  '  witliout 
the  vail '  is  sometimes  used  to  distinguish  the  most  holy 
from  the  holy  place.  The  people  were  never  admitted  into 
the  interior  of  the  Tabernacle.  None  but  the  priests  might 
go  even  into  the  outer  chamber  or  holy  place,  and  into  the 
inner  chamber  the  high-priest  alone  was  allowed  to  enter,  and 
that  only  once  in  the  year,  on  the  great  day  of  atonj-ment. 
To  this,  however,  there  was  a  necessary  exception  when  the 
Tabernacle  was  to  be  taken  down  or  set  up.  The  outer 
chamber  was  only  entered  in  the  morning  to  ofler  incense 
17* 


198  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

on  the  altar  which  stood  there,  and  to  extinguish  the  lamps, 
and  again  in  the  evening  to  light  them.  On  tlie  Sabbath 
also  the  old  shewbread  was  taken  away  and  replaced  with 
new.  These  were  all  the  services  for  which  the  attendance 
of  the  priests  was  necessary  Avithin  the  Tabernacle,  all  the 
sacrifices  being  made  in  the  open  space  in  front  of  the 
Tabernacle,  where  stood  the  brazen  altar  for  burnt  offerings. 
It  will  be  useful  to  observe,  that  the  most  holy  place  con- 
tained only  the  ark  with  its  contents ;  but  the  outer  apart- 
ment contained  the  altar  of  incense,  the  table  of  shewbread, 
and  the  great  golden  candlestick  ;  while  the  open  area  in 
front  of  the  Tabernacle  contained  the  brazen  laver  for  the 
ablutions  of  the  priests,  and  the  brazen  altar  for  burnt  oiier- 
ings. 

"  This  description  will  give  an  idea  of  the  general  arrange- 
ment and  substantial  structure  of  the  Tabernacle  ;  and  we 
may  proceed  to  notice  the  various  curtains  which  w-ere 
thrown  over  and  formed  the  outer  coverings  of  the  tent. 
The  first  or  inner  covering  was  of  fine  linen,  splendidly 
embroidered  with  figures  of  chei'ubim  and  fancy  work  in 
scarlet,  purple,  and  light  blue.  It  is  described  in  the  same 
terms  as  the  vail  of  tlie  '  holy  of  holies,'  and  was  doubtless 
of  the  same  texture  and  appearance  with  the  vail,  which, 
according  to  Josephus,  was  embroidered  with  all  sorts  of 
flowers,  and  interwoven  with  various  ornamented  figures, 
excepting  the  forms  of  animals.  Over  this  inner  covering 
was  anollier,  made  of  goats'  hair,  which  was  spun  by  the 
women  of  the  camp.  Cloth,  made  of  goats'  hair,  forms  the 
customary  coverings  for  the  tents  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs  to 
this  day,  and  it  still  continues  to  be  spun  and  woven  at  home 
by  the  women.  Over  this  covering  was  another  of  ranis' 
skins  dyed  red,  and  over  that  the  fourth  and  outermost 
covering  of  taliash  skins.  These  curtains,  after  covering, 
or  rather  ibrming,  the  roof,  hung  down  by  the  sides  and 
west  end  of  the  Tabernacle,  those  that  were  outside  being 


EXODUS    XXV.  109 

calculated  to  protect  the  more  costly  ones  within,  wliilc  the 
whole  combined  to  render  tlie  Tabernacle  impervious  to  tlic 
rain,  and  safe  from  the  injuries  of  the  wcatiier." 

If  one  were  to  read  this  chapter  after  a  perusal  of  tl»c 
sublime  and  impressive  descri[)tions  of  the  worship  of  (Jod 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  were  to  suppose  that  it  had  no 
ultimate  reference  to  any  thing  beyond  it,  but  tliat  it  was 
simply  an  architectural  plan,  laid  down  by  God,  and  carried 
out  by  Moses,  he  might  infer  that  the  God  so  gloriously  re- 
vealed in  the  New  Testament  cannot  be  the  same  God  who 
descends  to  communicate  such  seemingly  mere  jjaltry  details 
as  these.  But  all  the  difficulty  is  at  once  removed,  when  we 
recollect  that  every  thing  recorded  here  is  to  be  explained, 
not  in  its  own  light,  but  in  the  light  that  is  cast  upon  it  from 
the  dispensation  that  now  is,  and  still  more,  as  I  shall  show 
in  the  course  of  my  sermon,  from  that  bright  and  jjcrlect 
dispensation  that  is  yet  to  be.  The  truth  is,  that  every  jot 
and  tittle  of  it  foreshadows  and  typifies  the  grand  and  beau- 
ful  reality  that  comes  nearer  and  nearer  within  the  horizon 
every  day,  the  first  beams  of  which  begin  to  glinnner  al- 
ready in  the  distance. 

We  therefore  regard  this  as  worthy  of  God,  not  in  its 
absolute  state,  but  simply  because  it  is  part  and  parcel  of  a 
great,  a  glorious,  and  future  reality. 

When  you  look  at  a  complicated  machine  —  as,  for  in- 
stance, at  a  railway  locomotive  engine,  —  there  are  parts  of 
it  that  seem  to  be  utterly  worthless  in  themselves ;  the  pin 
in  the  axle  seems  a  very  worthless  thing,  but  if  that  pin 
were  to  drop  out,  the  machinery  would  all  go  wrong,  and 
human  lives  be  sacriliccd.  And  so  it  is  here;  there  are 
instructions  about  bowls,  and  branches,  and  ahnonils,  and 
flowers,  and  knops,  that  seem  very  trifling,  but  when  seen, 
as  we  shall  yet  see  them,  in  connection  with  a  bright  and 
perfect  glory  that  is  to  be,  and  as  part  and  parcel  of  a 
grand  scheme,  a  sublime  plan,  progressively  developed,  then 


200  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  minutest  detail  will  appear  instinct  with  meaning,  and 
the  most  insignificant  instruction  indicate  by  its  reference, 
its  beauty,  and  its  place.  And  if  there  should  be  some 
among  these  elaborate  arrangements  that  we  cannot  now  see 
the  meaning  of,  and  if  there  be  some  instructions  that  we 
cannot  perceive  to  have  a  special,  definite,  and  direct  appli- 
cation, yet  it  is  no  reason  for  saying  that  they  are  puerile, 
much  less  for  calHng  them  useless.  Are  there  not  many 
things  in  creation  that  Ave  cannot  understand  the  why  and 
the  wherefore  of?  Are  there  not  many  things  that  are  to 
us  inexplicable  in  the  habits  of  the  minutest  insect,  in  the 
existence  and  organization  of  the  birds  of  the  air,  the  fishes 
of  the  deep,  and  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills  ?  There  are 
facts  and  phenomena  that  the  naturalist  has  not  yet  compre- 
hended, that  man  has  not  been  able  to  explain  the  ultimate 
object  and  the  ultimate  bearing  of.  The  geologist,  wdio 
goes  down  into  the  earth  to  study  its  pages,  finds  things  that 
he  cannot  explain,  but  he  does  not  say,  "  These  things  are 
worthless,  because  I  cannot  explain  them ; "  he  lays  them 
aside  in  his  cabinet,  as  beyond  his  present  limited  expe- 
rience, perfectly  satisfied  that  every  thing  that  is  has  its 
meaning,  and  that  God  never  made  the  least  creature  or  the 
greatest  without  some  ultimate  design  of  beneficence. 
Accept  the  whole  of  the  Bible  as  God's  book,  and  then  you 
easily  accept  every  thing  in  it  as  God's  inspiration.  And 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  humble  way,  and  the  Christian  way, 
is  to  say.  This  part  I  do  see  the  moaning  of,  and  this  part  I 
do  not  at  pix'sent  understand;  but  I  am  (juite  satisfied  that 
what  1  do  not  understand  now  1  shall  understand  hereafter. 
We  are  living  in  a  dark  and  hazy  twilight.  The  fact  is,  we 
are  much  less  creatures  than  we  think  ourselves;  there  is 
far  more  reason  for  humility  than  there  is  for  pride  or  pre- 
sumption, and  it  is  the  far  more  reverent  and  becoming  way 
to  study  all  that  God  has  revealed,  and  search  out  all  its 
meaning  and  its  mystery,  by  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  as 


EXODUS   XXV.  201 

far  as  we  are  able ;  and  when  we  meet  witli  tilings  tliat  defy 
inspection  —  either  too  minute  for  us  to  inspect,  or  too  m:i«'- 
nificent  for  us  to  comprehend  —  let  us  not  say,  "Theses  are 
useless  and  unworthy ; "  but  let  us  be  sure  and  let  us  feel 
that  they  have  a  meaning,  though  we  cannot  now  under- 
stand it.  It  is  not  that  they  are  dark,  but  that  we  are 
ignorant. 

In  the  erection  of  tliis  Tabernacle  God  seems  almost,  for 
the  first  time,  to  localize  a  place  for  his  own  peculiar  and 
sj^iritual  worship  on  the  earth.  "We  do  not  read,  before  this, 
of  temples  and  sanctuaries  built  by  the  express  arrangement 
of  God  for  his  own  worship.  The  only  intimation,  if  such 
it  be,  is  the  place  of  the  cherubim  at  the  gates  of  Paradise; 
it  is  supposed  that  those  flaming  cherubim  at  the  gates  of 
Paradise,  that  fenced  off  every  application  to  enter,  till  the 
great  atonement  was  made,  and  the  true  Paradise  was 
opened,  w^ere  associated  with  those  described  in  this  chap- 
ter ;  and  that  when  Abel  went  to  present  his  sacrifice  to  the 
Lord,  he  went  into  the  symbolic  presence  of  the  Lord  — 
that  is,  into  the  glory  that  shone  between  these  cherubim, 
and  at  that  spot,  and  in  that  light,  he  offered  up  a  sacriHce, 
which  was  acceptable  unto  God;  and  as  if  to  explain  the 
justice  of  this  supposition,  it  says,  "  Cain  went  Ibrth  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord"  —  as  if  God  was  visibly  present, 
by  the  token  of  the  Divine  majesty,  in  the  splendor  of 
which  the  ancient  sacrifices  were  offered  up  to  God.  After 
that,  we  find  that  Abraham's  tent  was  his  temple,  his  sanc- 
tuary, and  his  church  ;  wherever  he  pitched  his  tent,  we  arc 
told,  there  he  erected  his  altar.  I  say  that  the  worsiiip  of 
God  was  acceptable,  in  the  patriarchal  dispensation,  every- 
where—  it  was  the  worship  that  consecrated  the  place, 
not  the  place  that  could  make  the  worship  acceptable  to 
God. 

But,  on  this  occasion,  we  find  God  selecting  as  it  were  a 
portion  of  the  earth,  and,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  spe- 


202  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cially  consecrating  it  for  worship,  and  as  a  place  where  he 
would  reign  as  a  king,  speak  as  a  prophet,  receive  sacrifices, 
and  give  directions  for  the  management  of  that  theocracy 
which  commenced  in  the  desert,  and  ended  when  the  glory 
departed  from  Israel.  And  this  so  far  warrants  us  in  that 
great  inference,  that  there  should  be  places  set  apart  for  the 
public  worship  of  God  everywhere ;  we  find  that  we  are  so 
much  the  creatures  of  time,  of  circumstance,  of  place,  that 
without  some  spot  on  which  to  assemble  together  to  worship, 
worship  would  cease  to  be  practised  altogether.  And  as  a 
matter  of  common  experience,  it  has  been  proved  that,  while 
it  is  possible,  on  the  one  side,  to  hold  that  worship  in  a  sanc- 
tuary or  a  cathedral  alone  is  acceptable  worship,  it  is  just  as 
possible  to  trample  it  in  pieces,  and  tread  it  underfoot,  and 
to  think  that  there  is  no  use  for  it  at  alh  It  is  quite  true 
that  there  is  nothing  in  a  place  that  a  presbyter  can  appoint, 
or  that  a  bishop  can  consecrate,  or  that  priests  can  bless, 
that  will  make  a  bad  man's  prayers,  presented  from  a  bad 
heart,  acceptable  to  God ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  bleak- 
est desert  of  Africa,  nothing  on  the  bosom  of  the  deep, 
nothing  in  the  midst  of  conflict,  to  prevent  a  good  man's 
prayers,  presented  in  the  name  of  Jesus  for  mercy  and  for- 
giveness, finding  acceptance  before  the  Hearer  of  prayer.  It 
is  now  strikingly  true,  "  Neither  on  this  mount  nor  on  that 
shall  ye  worship  ;  but  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship 
him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  lor  such  he 
seeketh  to  worship  him." 

And  therefore  it  does  aj^pear  to  me,  that  the  custom  that 
prevails  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  of  keeping  the  church 
doors  —  meaning  by  the  church,  the  sacred  edifices  —  open 
all  the  day,  that  people  may  go  in  there  and  worship,  is 
calculated  to  do  more  mischief  than  good.  It  is  inculcating 
the  notion,  that  prayer  can  only  be  accepted  near  the  altar, 
or  on  the  tesselated  pavement,  or  the  consecrated  floor ;  and 
it  also  tends  to  do  away  willi  that  far  more  beautiful,  far 


EXODUS    XXV.  20.3 

more  precious  tiling,  family  worship,  nioruing  aii«l  evcnin^r, 
in  your  own  drasving-rooni,  or  hall,  or  dining-room,  or 
wherever  you  may  have  it ;  it  tends  to  lead  you  to  think 
that  the  house  in  which  you  live  is  a  profane  place,  and  so 
fit  for  profane  acts  only,  and  that  the  consecrated  space 
within  four  walls  is  the  only  holy  place  ;  whereas,  wiien 
Jesus  allied  to  himself  the  dust  of  the  world,  he  consecrated 
it  all  for  his  temple ;  and  in  his  own  beautiful  words, 
"  Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  met  in  my  name,"  —  where- 
soever, it  must  be  somewhere,  but  it  may  be  upon  the  hill- 
side, it  may  be  in  the  streets,  it  may  be  in  the  uj)per  room  — 
"  wheresoever  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  "  —  there  is  a  true  church 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  lie  is  the  Great  Sanctuary,  the 
only  consecrated  place  :  in  him  we  are  to  pray,  and  prayer 
in  him  is  always  acceptable  to  God.  AVhy  was  prayer  and 
sacrifice  specially  acceptable  in  tabernacles  and  in  temples 
of  old  ?  Because  they  were  types  and  shadows  of  Christ, 
the  true  Temple.  Hence  Jesus  said,  "  Destroy  this  temi)le," 
or  tabernacle,  "  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  again.  This 
spake  he  of  his  body."  As  the  ancient  Jew,  in  the  days  of 
Daniel,  opened  his  window,  and  looked  towards  Jerusalem 
when  he  prayed  ;  so  the  modern  Jew,  or  the  true  Ciiristian 
—  for  circumcision  is  not  that  of  the  flesh  but  of  the  spirit  — 
is  now,  when  he  prays,  not  to  open  his  wijulow,  and  look  to- 
wards Rome,  or  Constantinople,  or  Jerusalem  ;  nor  is  he  to 
look  for  a  consecrated  place,  or  a  holy  place  to  kneel  in,  or 
a  holy  altar  to  bow  before  ;  but  he  is  to  turn  his  heart  to- 
wards Christ,  who  is  the  Great  Chancel  of  the  universe,  and 
to  feel  perfectly  assured  that  prayer,  in  that  name,  with  a 
heart  looking  to  Ilim,  rises  in  acceptance  before  the  Lord 
God  of  Hosts. 

You  will  notice  in  this  chapter,  that  the  people  were  to  be 
asked  to  give  what  would  build  the  temple.  Wc  havi-  h.re 
an  instance  of  what  our  dissenting  brethren  would  call  the 


204  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Voluntary  system ;  but  we  must,  however,  recollect  not  to 
shut  our  eyes  to  an  instance  that  Churchmen  would  also 
quote  in  favor  of  the  Establishment  principle.  The  fact  is, 
you  will  find  both  in  the  Bible  ;  and  it  is  in  the  combination 
of  both  that  the  greatest  good  can  be  done.  The  fact  that 
there  may  exist  the  one  —  or  a  provision  for  religion  by  the 
State  —  is  no  reason  why  we  should  be  slack,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  contributing  to  what  is  right,  and  beneficent  and 
wise.  Here,  then,  however,  God  orders  the  children  of 
Israel  to  bring  an  offering,  "  of  every  man  that  giveth  it 
ivilUngly  with  his  heart."  Such  contribution  is  not  to  be 
put  on  by  the  Church  rulers,  as  a  tax  that  you  are  to  be 
compelled  to  pay ;  it  is  not  to  be  an  inspection  of  your  rent- 
roll,  or  an  examination  of  your  income,  and  afterwards  as- 
signing you  to  give  so  much  towards  helping  the  Church,  or 
to  maintain  the  Church,  or  for  any  other  religious  purpose  — 
that  is  neither  the  Voluntary  system  nor  the  Establishment 
sj'stem ;  but  such  a  combination  of  the  worthlessness  that 
may  adhere  to  the  one,  and  of  all  the  wickedness  that  may 
grow  up  in  the  other,  that  it  ought  to  be  repudiated  by  every- 
body. "Whatever  you  give  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  you  are 
to  do  it  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  to  God  only ;  and 
you  are  to  give  whatever  you  give  willingly  with  your  heart 
—  not  by  constraint,  not  by  compulsion  from  Pope,  Prelate, 
or  Presbyter. 

We  have  here  also  a  list  of  the  ornaments  to  be  used  in  the 
sacred  fabric.  It  would  take  a  long  time  to  explain  the  blue, 
and  the  purple,  and  the  scarlet,  and  the  onyx  stone,  and  the 
rings,  and  the  knops,  and  the  branches  —  what  they  were 
and  whence  they  came.     There  were  reasons  for  them. 

You  will  notice,  however,  that  every  thing  that  was  done 
was  to  be  done  minutely,  after  a  pattern  tliat  was  shown  to 
Moses  —  it  was  to  be  done  minutely  —  there  was  a  heavenly 
pattern.  Now  people  say  that  there  is  a  certain  proof  of 
which  is  the  right  church.     One  says,  that  the  only  true 


EXODUS   XXV.  205 

church  is  an  Episcopal  Church  ;  and  some  of  our  fallicrs  in 
Scotland  went  quite  as  far  in  their  day  as  Tractarians  in 
ours  —  they  went  as  far  as  any  Pope  ever  did.  Sonic  of 
them  said  tliat  there  was  one  church  only,  and  tliat  it  was 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  And  it  is  a  very  interesting  fact, 
and  one  which  Tractarians  would  do  well  to  consider,  tliat  in 
the  days  of  Hooker  —  the  enlightened,  the  intellectual,  and 
the  able  advocate  of  Episcopacy,  it  was  Travcrs  the  ]*res- 
byter  who  said  that  there  was  no  church  except  it  was  gov- 
erned by  the  Presbytery.  Hooker  held  and  proved  that 
episcopacy  was  lawful.  He  admitted  the  validity  of  pres- 
bytery. But  he  alleged  episcopacy  was  not  wrong.  But 
now  the  tables  are  turned,  and  some  of  the  descendants  of 
Hooker  assert  that  episcopacy  alone  is  right,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  Travers  now  have  no  sympathy  with  him. 

But  in  the  New  Testament  we  have  no  description  of  the 
church  as  graphic,  as  minute,  as  express,  as  this  in  Ex- 
odus. It  is  worth  while  to  notice  the  contrast.  The  ancient 
temple  had  every  pin,  every  stick,  stave,  candlestick,  knop, 
flower,  snuffers,  all  minutely  specified  and  described ;  but 
when  we  come  to  the  New  Testament,  we  lind  the  essentials 
most  definite,  most  exclusive,  most  unmistakable,  but  the 
mere  form,  or  the  system,  or  the  regime  of  the  church,  left 
almost  unnoticed  and  untouched.  I  defy  any  one  to  say 
that  Episcopacy,  or  Congregationalism,  or  Presbyterianism, 
is  the  exclusive  form  of  church  polity  laid  down  in  tlie  New 
Testament.  If  the  word  "  bishop  "  occurs,  which  it  does, 
it  is  the  same  as  presbyter.  For  instance  :  Paul,  writing 
to  Timothy,  says,  "  If  a  man  desire  the  ollice  of  a  bishop, 
he  desireth  a  good  work.  A  preshi/ter  m\\<i  ha  blamele.'is." 
And  when  the  Apostle  Paul  went  to  Ephesiis,  which  was 
only  a  small  town,  not  the  size  probably  of  Bath,  he  found 
no  bishops  in  this  town,  in  the  modern  sense,  but  he  called 
together  tovq  TrpeaiSv-epovg,  \\\e  presbyters.  And  he  said  to  the 
presbyters,  "  Take  heed,  therefore,  unto  yourselves,  and  to 
18 


206  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

all  the  flock,  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you 
ETTiaKonovg,  bishops ;  it  is  in  our  translation  oversee7's  ;  and  I 
think  it  is  a  pity  it  is  so.  It  is  said  that  James  VI.  had  a 
dislike,  on  this  side  of  the  Tweed,  to  the  religion  that  he  held 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Tweed,  and  decided  in  England  that 
bishop  and  presbyter  were  not  the  same.  In  the  last  quoted 
text  the  word  was  rendered,  it  is  said  at  his  request,  "  over- 
seer." Those  expressions  used  in  the  New  Testament,  such  as 
presbyter  and  deacon,  then  meant,  I  believe,  very  little  more 
than  ministers,  having  congregational  duties,  and  who  were 
to  be  teachers  of  the  truth,  and  examples  of  godly  living. 

But  in  the  worship  of  God  there  must  be  some  arrange- 
ment and  some  order;  but  the  monstrous  notion  of  an 
exclusive  ecclesiastical  polity,  as  held  by  some  in  the  present 
day,  has  no  foundation  whatever  in  the  Bible ;  and,  there- 
fore, with  great  propriety,  they  go  to  certain  fathers  and 
writers  of  the  Nicene  school,  where  they  find  what  they 
cannot  discover  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

KEASONS  FOR  MINUTE  MECIIAXICAL  SPECIFICATIONS.  AX.VT.OOIES 
BETWEEN  god's  WORK  AND  WORD.  EPISTLE  TO  THE  IIICIJUEWS. 
THE    VEIL.      TUE    HOLY   OF   HOLIES. 

You  will  remember,  that,  in  the  course  of  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  previous  chapter  —  explained  at  greater  Ien;;th  in 
the  discourse  I  preached  subsequent  to  it  —  I  showed  you 
that  all  this  was  constructed  after  a  pattern  sliown  to  Moses 
on  the  Mount ;  and  that  we  had  there  the  symbol  and  indi- 
cation of  the  relative  spiritual  bearing  and  importance  of 
this  institution;  that  there  can  be  no  hesitation  in  conchid- 
ing  that  it  was  prefigurative  of  a  yet  more  glorious  taberna- 
cle to  be  pitched  —  a  liouse  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens.  It  is  in  allusion  to  this  tliat  Jolin,  in  the 
Apocalypse,  records,  "  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  Clod  is 
with  men."  Here,  in  the  desert,  it  was  the  tabcrnach'  of 
man,  wrought  after  the  pattern  shown  by  God;  but  in  that 
glorious  world  that  is  to  be,  the  original  itself  is  revealed, 
the  copy  is  for  ever  superseded,  because  unnecessary;  and 
there  shall  be  no  need  of  the  light  of  the  sun  and  of  the 
moon ;  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  J.amb  are  the 
light  thereof. 

I  showed  you  what  was  the  meaning  and  import  of  the 
various  arrangements  of  the  Tabernacle,  by  referring  to 
that  beautiful  explanation  of  them  —  the  Kpistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  If  you  were  to  look  at  thes«i  minute  details  of 
minute  mechanical  and  architectural  arrangements,  and  to 


208  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

see  nothing  beyond,  it  would  seem  that  this  chapter  contains 
prescriptions  utterly  unworthy  of  God,  and  altogether  de- 
rogatory to  what  we  should  suppose  worthy  of  the  glory  of 
the  Great  King,  that  he  should  lay  down  rules  for  "  taches," 
and  for  "  couplings,"  and  for  "  corners,"  and  for  "  rings," 
and  all  those  minute  and  little  details  that  seem  to  us  in 
themselves  so  contemptible  —  I  say,  seem  to  us  contempti- 
ble, for  they  really  are  not  so.  There  is  as  much  archi- 
tectural skill  displayed  in  the  creation  of  a  beetle  or  a  bee, 
as  there  is  in  the  arrangement  of  one  of  the  fixed  stars ;  and 
there  is  as  much  of  God's  omnipresence,  omniscience,  and 
beneficence  revealed  in  minute  things  that  the  microscope 
shows  us,  as  there  is  displayed  in  the  majestic  and  magnifi- 
cent things  that  come  within  the  sweep  and  range  of  the 
telescope ;  so  that  many  have  often  doubted  —  as,  indeed, 
they  may  —  whether  the  unseen  world  beneath  us  that  art 
enables  us  to  detect,  or  the  great  and  countless  orbs  that  are 
above  us,  tell  most  forcibly  the  greatness  and  the  goodness 
of  Him  that  made  them.  And  just  as  in  the  material  world 
there  are  great  things  and  small  things,  all  mingled  to- 
gether, yet  each  having  its  place,  so  it  is  here,  where  we  see 
great  things  spoken  of — as  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  this 
book,  where  the  Law  was  revealed,  and  here,  where  these 
minute  and  mechanical  details  are  arranged ;  proving  the 
connection  between  God's  made  book,  —  the  earth  and  uni- 
verse,—  and  God's  written  or  revealed  book,  —  the  Bible. 
And,  as  I  believe  I  noticed  last  Sunday,  it  does  not  follow 
that  because  we  cannot  see  the  use  of  every  arrangement 
here,  we  are  thereibre  to  conclude  that  it  is  useless.  We 
cannot  dig  twenty  feet  into  the  earth,  we  cannot  look  very 
far  into  the  skT,  without  finding  ten  thousand  things  that  we 
cannot  tell  the  end,  the  object,  and  the  reason  of.  The  fact 
is,  we  think  ourselves  much  greater  than  we  really  are  ; 
and  it  is  a  lesson  that  we  need  to  learn,  to  lean  upon  an 
Omnipotence  that  we  cannot  comprehend,  and  to  be  thank- 


EXODUS  xxvr.  209 

ful  for  fin  Omnipresent  watclifiilncss  wliicli  wo  can  neither 
trace  nor  detect,  and  that  we  do  not  deserve.  Let  us  believe 
that  whatever  God  has  made  in  the  outer  world  has  iU 
meaning,  its  end,  and  its  object,  though  we  cannot  see  it ; 
and  that  in  tlie  inner  world  —  the  Bible  —  everything  — 
the  taches,  rings,  curtains,  coverings  —  all  have  their  mean- 
ing, their  end,  and  use,  though  we  do  not  now  understand  it. 
Man  thinking,  man  saying  that  things  are  not  right,  because 
he  cannot  comprehend  them,  is  like  a  man  denying  the  ex- 
tent and  magnificence  of  the  firmament,  because  he  cannot 
meet  it  by  a  footrule  in  his  hand ;  and  because  he  cannot 
comprehend  a  thing,  he  thinks  that  it  has  no  meaning,  no 
end,  and  no  object,  and  therefore  that  it  is  worthless.  Let 
us  remember  that,  in  all  that  God  has  made,  there  are  many 
things  that  we  can  easily  comprehend,  and  for  which  we  will 
bless  and  praise  him  ;  there  are  many  things  to  test  and  try 
our  humility,  and  to  make  us  feel  that  what  we  know  not 
now,  we  can  only  hope  that  we  shall  know  hereafter. 

But  you  will  notice  that  all  this  is  alluded  to  by  the  apos- 
tle as  having  special  meaning,  when  he  said,  "  Then  verily 
the  first  covenant  had  also  ordinances  of  divine  service,  and 
a  worldly  sanctuary.  For  there  was  a  tabernacle  made; 
the  first,  wherein  was  the  candlestick,  and  the  table,  and  the 
shewbread ;  which  is  called  the  sanctuary.  And  after  the 
second  vail,  the  tabernacle  which  is  called  the  Holiest  of 
all ;  which  had  the  golden  censer,  and  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant overlaid  round  about  with  gold,  wherein  was  the  golden 
pot  that  had  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod  that  budded,  and  the 
tables  of  the  covenant;  and  over  it  the  cherul>ims  of  glory 
shadowing  the  mercy-seat ;  of  which  we  cannot  now  speak 
particularly.  Now  when  these  things  were  thus  ordained, 
the  priests  went  always  into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplisli- 
ing  the  service  of  God.  But  into  the  second  went  the  high- 
priest  alone  once  every  year,  not  without  blood,  which  he 
offered  for  himself,  and  for  the  errors  of  the  people :  the 
18* 


210  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Holy  Ghost  thus  signifying,  that  the  way  into  the  holiest  of 
all  was  not  yet  made  manifest,  while  as  yet  the  first  taberna- 
cle was  standing;  which  was  a  figure  for  the  time  then 
present,  in  which  were  offered  both  gifts  and  sacrifices,  that 
could  not  make  him  that  did  the  service  perfect,  as  pertain- 
ing to  tlie  conscience  ;  which  stood  only  in  meats  and  drinks, 
and  divers  washings,  and  carnal  ordinances,  imposed  on 
them  until  the  time  of  reformation.  But  Christ  being  come 
an  high-priest  of  good  things  to  come,  by  a  greater  and 
more  perfect  tabernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  that  is  to  say, 
not  of  this  building;  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  and 
calves,  but  by  his  own  blood  he  entered  in  once  into  the 
holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us." 
There  is  a  beautiful  and  expressive  commentary. 

But,  you  say.  Why  should  God  give  the  minute  regu- 
lations here  ?  I  answer,  first  of  all,  that,  in  the  erection  of  a 
building  now,  before  you  can  get  men,  who  are  merely  me- 
chanical in  their  office,  to  execute  your  orders  thoroughly, 
you  must  lay  down  very  minute  laws.  And  here  was  a 
semisavage,  semibarbarous,  murmuring,  ungrateful  race,  in 
the  midst  of  a  desert,  come  out  from  the  slavery  of  Egypt. 
God  left  nothing  to  their  own  invention,  but  laid  down 
minutely  and  exactly  —  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon 
precept  —  certain  regulations  and  laws,  so  that  the  very 
worst  builder  of  Israel  might  not  err  therein. 

The  close  of  the  chapter  refers  to  the  distinction  which 
exi-;ted  of  the  holy  place,  which  the  apostle  alludes  to  in 
Hebrews  ix.,  namely,  the  vail  tiiat  hung  between  the  holy 
place  and  the  most  holy.  There  was  the  outer  court  for  the 
laity  ;  there  was  the  holy  place  for  the  priests  ;  and  there 
was  the  most  holy  place,  or  the  holy  of  holies,  into  which 
the  high-priest  went,  not  without  blood,  once  a  year. 

Now,  before  the  holy  of  holies  there  hung  a  very  mag- 
nificent curtain  or  vail ;  and  you  will  recollect  that  when 
Jesus  died  upon  the  cross,  and  said,  "  It  is  finished  ! "  this 


EXODUS  xxvr.  211 

vail,  which  was  in  the  tabernacle,  and  also  in  the  temple, 
was  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  sij^nifyinj^  that 
from  that  time  all  Levitical  sacredness  was  gone  ;  that  all 
distinction  between  the  outer  and  the  inner  court,  the  chancel 
and  the  nave,  the  holy  of  holies  and  the  holy  place  —  all 
was  gone ;  the  sacredness  now  is  made  by  the  work  in 
which  we  are  engaged.  "  AVherever  two  or  three  are  met 
in  my  name,"  says  the  Saviour,  "  there  am  I  in  the  midst 
of  them  "  —  that  is,  there  is  a  true  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

But  while  the  ancient  economy  existed,  this  distinction 
was  kept  up,  and  ever  taught  and  impressed  a  great  and 
precious  truth  —  that  Christ  must  come,  and  die,  and  enter 
into  the  true  holy  place,  before  there  could  be  access  from 
grace  to  glory,  and  from  the  outer  to  the  inner  court. 


CHAPTER    XXYII. 

REASONS   OF    SO   MINUTE   REGULATIONS.     SEPARATION   OP 
ISRAELITES. 

There  is  scarcely  a  remark  applicable  to  the  previous 
chapter  that  is  not  also  applicable  to  this.  I  explained,  in 
the  course  of  my  observations  on  the  previous  chapter,  that 
if  you  were  to  judge  of  this  merely  as  an  elaborate  arrange- 
ment, without  ultimate  reference  to  something  that  was  to 
come,  or  as  disconnected  with  some  great  moral  and  spiritual 
arrangement,  we  should  conclude  that  the  God  who  wrote 
and  inspired  that  magnificent  record  —  the  Ten  Command- 
ments —  never  could  have  condescended  to  give  such  minute 
regulations  as  are  contained  in  this  chapter,  of  pins,  and 
sockets,  and  network,  and  fine  twined  linen,  and  purple,  and 
all  the  measures,  the  length  and  breadth  thereof.  The  two 
seem  incompatible.  In  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus, 
all  is  majesty,  magnificence,  and  moral  grandeur  —  the  cir- 
cumstantial lost  in  the  spiritual,  the  transient  in  the  eternal; 
but  here  every  thing  seems  paltry,  minute  ;  for  which  one 
cannot  see,  in  judging  of  it  by  itself,  the  necessity  for  special 
inspiration  to  point  out,  or  for  special  inspiration  to  record. 

But  when  we  open  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  read 
it  as  the  commentary  upon  Exodus  and  Leviticus,  we  see 
that  there  was  a  meaning  in  all  the  institutions  of  Levi,  of 
the  most  precious^  and,  for  the  time  and  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  people,  of  the  most  instructive  character.  There  may 
be  subordinate  reasons  to  this.  They  were  a  barbarous 
people,  just  come  forth  from  the  slavery  and  bondage  of 
Egypt,  without  knowledge  of  science,  architecture,  or  me- 


EXODUS   XXVII.  213 

clianics,  or  any  sort  of  knowledge  that  could  ([iiality  them 
for  suitably  constructing  an  editice  in  Avliicli  was  to  be  con- 
ducted the  worship  of  God. 

There  may  be  another  reason.  It  was  meet  that  God 
should  regulate  the  minutest  points  in  the  tabernacle  — 
which  ultimately  developed  itself  into  the  temple  of  Solomon 
—  because  the  tendency  of  the  Israelites  —  as  a  peoj)le  insu- 
lated from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  set  apart  ibr  the  main- 
tenance of  the  true  worship  of  God,  and  the  maintenance  of 
God's  inspired  truth  —  their  tendency  was  to  borrow  some- 
thing from  th(i  Egyptians,  or  the  Canaanites,  or  other  hea- 
then nations  round  them  ;  at  first  an  innocent  introduction  of 
a  beautiful  rite,  but  afterwards  the  erection  in  its  niche  of 
an  idol  for  them  to  worship.  AVe  can  see  from  the  whole 
history  of  this  people,  that  if  God  had  left  in  the  architec- 
tural specifications  the  least  point  to  be  filled  up  by  them, 
they  would  have  built,  in  that  opening,  a  niche  for  an  idol, 
or  for  the  introduction  of  a  practice  that  might  ultinuitcly 
counteract  the  great  object  for  which  these  institutions  were 
established. 

We  can  see,  therefore,  first,  in  their  ignorance,  as  exiles 
and  refugees  from  Egyi)t,  a  reason  for  special  and  minute 
instruction;  and  secondly,  in  their  tendency —  developed  in 
their  whole  history,  to  introduce  extraneous  rites  and  idola- 
trous customs  from  other  nations  —  reason  for  leaving  not  a 
niche,  or  a  crevice,  or  a  nook,  or  a  cranny,  Ibr  any  thing 
tliat  God  had  not  already  specified  and  minutely  described. 

And  lastly,  we  can  see  a  grand  design  in  it  all,  from  cer- 
tain things  that  are  here  mentioned.  The  tabernacle,  a.<  I 
showed  }^ou  in  the  course  of  my  sermon  on  a  previous  Sun- 
day, constantly  alluded  to  a  greater  that  will  aj.pear;  till  at 
last  the  song  of  saints  in  heaven  and  saints  on  earth  j.ro- 
claim  the  blessed  truth.  "  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  Gml  is 
with  men;  and  I  will  dwell  with  them  ;  and  they  shaU  be 
to  me  a  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God." 


214  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

We  have,  then,  secondly,  the  holy  of  holies,  into  which 
the  high-priest  went  but  once  a  year,  not  without  blood,  and 
made  intercession  for  the  people ;  and  I  showed  you  how 
constantly  that  is  alluded  to  in  the  EpivStle  to  the  Hebrews 
as  the  great  type  or  foreshadow  of  the  entrance  of  the  Great 
High-Priest,  not  into  the  holy  of  holies  that  was  made  with 
hands,  but  into  the  true  holy  place,  there  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us. 

We  have,  also,  in  this  chapter,  a  description  of  the  brazen 
altar,  on  which  the  sacrifices  were  burnt :  made  of  wood,  but 
lined  with  brass,  and,  according  to  Josephus,  having  stones 
and  earth  between  the  brass  and  the  wood,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  heat  of  the  fire  consuming  the  wood. 

We  have  next  all  the  apparatus  requisite  for  the  due,  and 
proper,  and  becoming  service  of  the  sanctuary,  when  sacri- 
fices were  offered.  AYe  have  the  whole  measure  of  the 
tabernacle  itself — its  breath  and  its  length;  the  whole 
length  of  the  court  from  the  north  side  being  an  hundred 
cubits.  It  was  a  large  inclosure,  about  a  hundred  and  sixty 
feet  in  length,  and  with  so  many  feet  correspondmg  in 
breadth. 

There  was,  then,  the  holy  of  holies  inside  of  it,  at  the 
further  end,  into  which  the  high-priest  alone  entered;  all 
of  which,  says  Paul,  are  the  figures  of  the  truth,  waiting  till 
Christ,  the  true  lligh-Priest,  should  come,  and  the  veil  that 
separates  earth  from  heaven  should  be  rent,  and  there  should 
be  access  for  all  the  people  of  God  to  the  immediate  pres- 
ence of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  next  read  of  the  lamp  that  was  to  burn  in  the  holy 
of  holies.  I  stated  last  Sunday,  that  the  holy  of  holies  was 
dark  ;  there  was  no  window  for  the  ingress  of  light :  but 
this  lamp,  with  its  seven  branches,  was  kept  constantly  burn- 
ing. Perhaps  the  dimness  of  that  place  was  intended  to 
denote  the  dimness  of  that  dispensation ;  and  all  the  mys- 
tery that  was  about  it  was  designed  to  stimulate  the  minds 


EXODUS    XXVII.  215 

of  the  Israelites  to  wait,  and  long,  and  pray  for  that  time 
when  they  shoidd  no  longer  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but 
face  to  face. 

Then  the  oil  that  was  to  be  used  was  very  choice.  It 
was  not  the  oil  crushed  by  rollers  out  of  the  olives ;  but  it 
was  oil  that  dropped  itself,  without  pressure,  and  was, 
therefore,  pure,  and  better  than  the  oil  which  was  ordinarily 
used. 

And  all  these  arrangements  stood  as  long  as  this  economy 
lasted,  the  type  to  continue  till  the  antitype  should  come. 
That  antitype  is  now  come,  and  therefore  the  iigures  have 
evaporated ;  and  now  that  the  realities  have  taken  their 
place,  it  would  be  apostasy  from  the  truth  to  reintroduce 
what  has  as  divinely  vanished  away  as  it  was  divinely  in- 
troduced. 


CHAPTER     XXVIII. 

INSULATION  OF  THE  JEWS.  EVERY  PART  OF  TABERNACLE  ITS 
USE.  CHRIST  THE  END  OF  ALL.  ROMISH  ECCLESIASTICAL 
DRESSES.  SIMPLICITY.  MEANING  OF  "lIOLY."  HIGII-PRIEST'S 
PRECIOUS    STONES.       URIM   AND    THUMMIM.      POMEGRANATES. 

The  Jews  were  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  masses  of 
heathendom ;  they  were  set  apart  to  be  a  people  to  reflect 
the  character  and  holiness,  and  to  maintain  the  worship,  of 
the  living  and  the  true  God.  Their  tendency,  as  their 
whole  history  shows,  was  to  borrow  from  surrounding 
nations,  wherever  there  was  an  opening  that  would  enable 
them  to  do  so ;  and  by  borrowing  the  customs  of  the 
heathen,  they  came  by  and  by  to  fall  into  the  practices  of 
the  heathen  also.  God,  therefore,  in  order  to  preserve  this 
nation,  and  to  leave  no  opening,  or  creek,  or  cranny,  or 
nook,  by  which  there  could  be  the  admission  of  any  thing 
extrinsic,  foreign,  or  heathen,  laid  down  these  minute,  these 
excessively  minute  specifications,  that  the  people  might 
in  all  things  have  a  law,  a  rule,  and  a  guide,  to  act  by. 
You  can  see,  therefore,  in  this,  what  you  will  see  in 
a  wall  round  a  garden  ;  there  are  single  bricks,  that  one 
fancies  very  trifling  in  themselves,  and  that  we  do  not  see 
the  use  of,  but  each  has  its  purpose,  and  usefulness,  and  de- 
sign. In  a  hedge  round  an  inclosure  tliere  are  some  stakes, 
some  props,  some  bits  tliat  seem  unnecessary,  and  only  for 
ornament ;  but  they  all  have  their  use  and  their  design.  So 
in  these  regulations ;  they  are  part  and  parcel  of  a  great 


EXODUS    XXVIII.  217 

and  universal  Avhole.  God  chose  the  Israelites,  as  a  nation, 
distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  kept 
them,  in  spite  of  the  all-encompassing  deluge  of  uickiMhic-s 
and  idolatry,  nationally  a  chosen  generation,  a  peeuHar  peo- 
ple, a  royal  priesthood.  That  would  be  one  explanation, 
and  so  far  it  is  a  just  one;  but  there  is  an  ultimate  ol)jeet 
and  a  typical  reference  in  every  thing  that  is  here.  AVe  can 
see  the  typical  import  of  it  in  certain  great  things;  and 
though  we  cannot  see  it  in  all  the  minute  things,  yet  that 
may  be,  not  because  they  are  dark,  but  because  we  are  in 
darkness ;  not  because  they  have  no  light,  but  because  we 
are  not  able  to  comprehend  and  to  see  them.  And  no  one 
can  read  the  whole  of  these  arrangements  al^out  tlie  higli- 
priest,  and  these  regulations  about  the  tabernacle  economy, 
and  then  compare  with  them  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
without  seeing  that  no  chance  could  have  made  Christ  in  all 
things  so  minutely  to  correspond  to  them ;  and  that  nothing 
but  a  preconcerted  arrangement  on  God's  part,  to  set  forth 
the  Saviour,  under  types,  and  figures,  and  shadows,  to  the 
Jews,  could  have  made  the  harmony  between  Christ,  the 
end  of  the  law,  and  the  shadows  that  prefigured  him. 

Now,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  we  are  told  tliat  we 
have  a  great  High-Priest,  who  was  in  all  things  tempted  as 
we  are,  yet  without  sin ;  and  who  has  passed  into  the  heav- 
enly place,  or  into  the  true  holy  place,  to  appear  before 
God  for  us.  And  when  you  recollect  how  Ciirist  is  spoken 
of  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  you  will  see  here  scattered 
points,  that  are  evidently  parts  of  his  glory,  rise  into  light  ; 
and  by  the  media  of  wliicli  the  pious  Jew  saw  Ciirist  from 
afar,  and  anticipated  that  blessed  day  which  it  was  i)erm it- 
ted  to  Simeon  to  enter  on  ;  when  he  should  see  Him  who  is 
the  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people 
Israel. 

The  robes  that  are  here  laid  down  for  the  high-priest  are 
extremely  elaborate,  very  magnificent ;  the  only  ones  that 
VJ 


218  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

I  know  of  in  modern  times  are  the  robes  of  the  Romish 
priesthood.  This,  however,  does  not  prove  that  the  robes 
of  the  Romish  priestliood  are  scriptural,  because  they  are 
worn  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  robes  of  the  high-priest ; 
for,  instead  of  being  scriptural,  —  though  it  may  seem  a 
startling  announcement,  —  they  are  quite  the  reverse;  be- 
.  cause,  if  the  substance  be  come,  the  shadow  is  to  pass 
away  —  if  the  reality  be  arrived,  that  which  prefigured  him 
is  done  away  —  and,  therefore,  to  draw  from  the  wardrobe 
of  Aaron,  in  order  to  decorate  the  modern  Christian  minis- 
ter, is  to  act  as  if  eighteen  centuries  were  expunged,  and  we 
were  living  under  the  Levitical  regime,  instead  of  under  the 
Christian  and  New  Testament  economy. 

It  is  quite  plain,  therefore,  that  while  it  may  seem  scrip- 
tural to  copy  these  robes  in  a  modern  church,  it  is,  in  reality, 
most  unchristian  to  do  so,  simply  on  the  ground  that  they 
had  their  meaning,  their  object,  and  their  end  then ;  but 
now,  that  their  end  is  come,  they  have  passed  away.  The 
moment  that  Jesus  said,  "It  is  finished,"  Aaron,  Levi,  and 
all  their  economy  passed  away ;  they  were  buried  with 
Jesus ;  only  Jesus  rose,  and  they  remain  still  in  the  grave. 

These  robes  were  very  precious.  These  robes  were  for 
beauty  and  for  glory ;  and  they  were  meant  to  set  forth  the 
glory,  the  excellence,  the  beauty,  the  perfection  of  Him 
whose  beauty  is  not  of  robes,  but  moral,  and  whose  glory  is 
not  an  outer,  but  an  inner  one.  And  thus,  in  the  Christian 
economy,  the  intensest  simplicity  is  the  greatest  sublimity. 
It  is  the  law  now,  all  great  things  are  simple,  all  great  men 
are  eminently  simj)le.  Simplicity  is  only  compatible  with 
true  greatness ;  and  wherever  real  gi-eatness  is,  there  true 
simplicity  will  be  also.  Blaze,  spangle,  glitter,  show,  are 
vulgar,  they  are  not  great ;  and  under  the  Christian  econ- 
omy we  do  not  need  tiiese  things.  Our  religion  is  adorned 
the  most  when  it  is  adorned  the  least.  The  great  i)()et  has 
truly  expressed  it,  when  he  says  that  we  do  not  think  of 


EXODUS    XXV III.  219 

gilding  the  refined  gold,  or  adding  In-sli  ixM-funic  to  tlie  vio- 
let. So  in  our  religion,  in  its  pn^cious  tnitlis,  in  its  grand 
hopes,  there  is  that  intrinsic  and  real  niagnilie«'nce  that  it  is 
most  beautiful  when  it  is  just  best  seen.  How  is  God  most 
glorified?  Not  by  adding  any  thing  to  him  ;  but  he  is  glo- 
rified in  proi)ortion  as  he  is  revealed :  and  so  the  religion 
that  he  has  inspired  is  beautiful  just  in  i)roportion  as  it  is 
seen;  and  whenever  you  atte)n})t  to  beautily,  you  durk^-n  — 
■when  you  attem[)t  to  improve,  you  only  destroy. 

There  was,  then,  the  breastplate,  the  ephod,  whirh  was 
a  robe  extending  to  the  ankles,  and  the  broidered  coat,  and 
the  mitre,  and  the  girdle ;  and  these  were  to  be  holy  gar- 
ments. The  word  "holy,"  I  may  mention,  in  the  liible, 
means  set  apart  to  a  thing.  Now  you  will  be,  i)erhaps, 
startled,  when  I  tell  you  that  Ka<losh,  which  is  the  Hebrew 
word  for  "  holy,"  is  api)lied  to  a  wicked  person  as  well  as  to 
a  "ood  man.  The  Hebrew  word  is  translated  into  tiie 
Greek  &yLog,  and  it  is  translated  into  the  Latin  "  sacer." 
Those  who  have  read  the  Latin  poet,  will  recollect  the  aiiri 
sacra  fames,  which  would  be,  litt'rally  translated,  "the 
sacred  thirst  of  gold,"  a  rendering  that  would  be  absuni ;  it 
means,  "the  accursed  thirst  of  gold."  So  in  the  Hebrew, 
the  word  which  is  translated  "  iioly,"  means  simply  "  d«'di- 
cated,"  separated  from  one  use  and  set  to  another.  Now, 
the  word  "holy,"  as  applied  to  garments,  does  not  imply 
that  there  was  any  thing  in  them  intrinsically  holy,  but  it 
means  that  they  were  sequestered,  set  a))art  from  every -tlay 
use  to  temi)le,  or  religious,  or  spiritual  u.^e.  The  word 
"holy"  was  applied  to  things  set  apart  under  the  ancient 
economy;  and  when  ai)plied  to  Christians,  it  means  persons 
who  are  set  apart.  The  humblest  believer  is  as  truly  con- 
secrated as  the  highest  minister;  that  is,  he  is  sequestered, 
set  ai)art  from  profane  and  common  purpo>es,  to  a  holy,  a 
spiritual,  and  a  heavenly  life. 

You  will  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  there  were  to  be 


220  SCRITTURE    READINGS. 

precious  stones  ;  the  onyx  stone  was  so  called  from  its  re- 
semblance to  the  root  of  the  human  nail  on  the  finger.  The 
onyx  stone  was  to  have  an  engraving  upon  it.  Then  there 
was  to  be  the  topaz,  the  carbuncle,  the  diamond,  the  eme- 
rald, the  sapphire,  and  other  stones,  %vhich  are  also  alluded 
to  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  which  I  believe  are  so  far  identi- 
cal with  the  stones  that  are  called  by  these  names  now.  It 
is  singular  that  one  stone  is  here  called  the  amethyst.  It 
was  called  so  from  the  superstition  that  prevailed  that  it 
would  cure  drunkenness.  It  means  not  intoxicated ;  and  it 
was  supposed  that  if  this  stone  was  put  into  a  drunkard's 
cup,  it  Avould  prevent  drunkenness.  Hence  the  name  which 
was  applied  to  it. 

It  was  a  precious  stone ;  still,  I  believe  of  great  value, 
and  was  one  of  those  that  were  on  the  high-priest's  breast- 
plate. 

Then  upon  these  stones  there  were  to  be  engraved  the 
names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel ;  and  when  the  high- 
priest  went  into  the  holy  place,  he  was  to  have  these  stones 
upon  his  heart,  and  the  names  of  the  tribes  beautifully  cut 
or  engraved  upon  them.  Does  not  this  show  the  exact  cor- 
respondence between  the  high-priest  of  the  Israelites  and 
the  Great  High-Priest,  and  that  tlie  one  Avas  the  prefigura- 
tion  of  the  other  ?  "We  read  that  Jesus  has  entered,  not 
into  the  holy  place  made  with  hands,  but  into  the  true  holy- 
place,  there  to  appear  in  heaven  for  us.  Jesus  appears 
now  in  heaven,  bearing,  not  upon  the  stones,  however  pre- 
cious, from  which  the  engraving  may  be  wasted  and  worn, 
but  bearing  upon  his  heart  the  names,  not  of  tribes,  nor  of 
nations,  but  of  every  individual  believer,  however  humble, 
wiio  has  washed  his  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  effi- 
cacy of  his  [)recious  sacrifice. 

"When  the  high-pri(;st  went  into  the  holy  place,  he  was  to 
have  u])oii  his  breastplate  the  "  Urim  and  the  Thummim." 
The  literal  translation  of  these  words  is  "  lights  and  perfec- 


EXODUS    XXVIII.  221 

tions."  It  has  been  a  great  dispute  amon;;  the  J(.'\vish  llab- 
i)is,  as  also  among  Christian  commentators,  whellu-r  the 
"Urim  and  the  Thummim"  were  not  the  same,  or  identical 
^vith  the  precious  stones  that  contained  the  names  of  tlie 
welve  tribes  of  Israel.  At  all  events,  it  was  s<jmetliiii<' 
upon  his  breast  —  either  these  stones,  or  some  specitd  robe 
that  he  wore  upon  his  breast  wdien  he  went  into  tlie  holy  of 
holies,  where  he  received  irom  God  —  from  the  Sliechinah, 
or  the  glory  that  dwelt  between  the  cheruljim  —  answers  to 
his  diiricultics,  directions  for  the  government  of  the  nation, 
promises,  comforts,  truths  ;  all  that  Israel  needed.  Tliese 
words  are  frequently  alluded  to  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 
For  instance,  Jesus  Christ  is  called  "  light."  That  is  evi- 
dently an  allusion  to  this  ;  and  many  of  the  robes  of  the 
high-priest  are  alluded  to  significantly  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, if  not  by  their  names,  by  words  corresponding  to  their 
meaning. 

Then,  when  the  high-priest  went  into  the  holy  of  holies, 
he  was  to  have  "•  a  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate  ; "  the 
fringe  of  his  robe  was  hung  with  pomegranates  and  bells  — 
small  bells  —  and  the  object  of  this,  it  is  supposed  by  the 
Rabbis,  was  to  let  the  people  know  that  when  he  went  into 
the  holy  of  holies,  he  was  still  alive.  The  Jews  had  the 
idea  that,  to  see  God  and  to  die,  was  almost  the  one  the 
necessary  result  of  the  other.  No  one  but  the  high-i)riest 
alone,  and  he  only  once  a  year,  was  permitted  to  go  into  the 
holy  of  holies,  where  was  the  Sliechinah,  or  the  bright, 
supernatural  glory  that  burned  upon  the  mercy-seat,  between 
the  cherubim ;  and  they  say,  that  the  tinkling  of  the  bells 
inside  was  the  evidence  to  the  people  that  the  high-priest  was 
still  alive.  We  read  in  the  Psalms,  "  Oh,  blessed  are  the 
people  that  know  the  joyful  sound  ;  "  that  phrase  is  borrowed 
from  the  fact,  that  the  tinkling  of  the  bells  of  the  high-priest 
in  the  holy  of  holies  was  to  every  Jew  a  most  joyful  sound, 
because  it  was  proof  to  him  that  the  sacrilicc  olTercd  without 
19* 


222  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  accepted,  and  that  the  high-[)riest  was  interceding  within. 
But  where  were  the  Jews  when  the  high-priest  was  within? 
They  were  all  waiting  outside,  till  the  high-priest  should 
come  forth  and  bless  them.  That  is  just  our  position  now. 
Jesus  has  otlered  up  a  sacrifice  once  for  all  on  the  cross ;  he 
is  now  in  the  holy  of  holies,  with  the  names  of  all  his  people 
on  his  heart,  pleading  for  us ;  and  the  joyful  sound,  or  the 
preached  gospel,  still  in  our  ears,  is  the  evidence  to  us  that 
Christ  has  entered  within  the  veil,  and  we  are  waiting  out- 
side till  the  High- Priest  shall  come  forth,  as  he  will  do  soon, 
and  pronounce  that  grand  and  lasting  benediction  that  will 
strike  down  into  nature's  heart,  and  make  her  very  deserts 
to  rejoice,  and  her  bleakest  and  her  most  solitary  places  to 
blossom  even  as  the  rose. 

The  pomegranate  was  a  fruit  with  which  you  are  all  ac- 
quainted ;  it  has  a  sort  of  pulpy  substance  inside,  a  little 
larger  than  an  orange,  and  is  full  of  seeds  ;  and  in  fact  the 
origin  of  the  word  pomegranate  is  pomum  granatum,  that 
means  an  apple  with  a  great  many  seeds  in  it.  And  pome- 
granates were  the  symbol  of  fruitfulness,  and  were  the  sign 
to  the  Jews  —  the  constant  sign  —  that  the  whole  earth 
should  yet  be  covered  with  Christ's  glory,  and  all  ilesh  see 
his  salvation. 

Upon  the  high-priest's  mitre  there  was  the  inscription, 
"  Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  which  was  meant  to  denote  how 
completely  he  was  sequestered  to  God;  how  truly  he  was 
dedicated  to  him;  and  that  holiness  to  God  was  the  great 
end  and  object  of  that  economy  of  which  he  was  the  chief. 

The  following  very  instructive  descriptions  are  from  Bush, 
the  American  commentator  :  — 

1.  Sard  I  us.  Ileb.  tli^  odein,  from  the  radical  filJ^  adam,  to  he  ruddy 
or  red.  Chal.  '^p?2D  samkan,  and  S^npl^D  samkctha,  red.  Gr.  aapdiov, 
sardine,  a  name  supposed  to  be  taken  from  Sardis  or  Sardinia,  where 
it  was  originally  found.     It  was  a  stone  of  the  ruby  class,  and  answers 


EXODUS    XXVIII.  223 

to  the  carnelian  of  the  modenis.    The  finest  specimens  now  coine  from 
Surat,  a  city  near  tlic  gulf  of  Canibay,  in  India. 

2.  Topaz.  Ileb.  m^S  pWa/t.  Etymolofry  unknown,  (ir.  roTai^/of, 
topazion,  a  name  whieli  Pliny  says  is  derived  Irom  Tujxtzvs,  an  island 
in  the  lied  Sea.  Glial.  pT  ijarlcan  and  Hrp"!"!  ynrkdhn,  si;;nifyin;,' 
green.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  modern  r/iri/solite,  and  its  color  to  liavo 
been  a  transparent  (jreen-rjelluw.  It  conies  now  from  Egypt,  where  it  is 
found  in  alluvial  strata. 

3.  Carbuncle.  Heb.  Dp'nn  harckdh,  from  p'^.i  harak,  to  llijhten, 
glitter,  or  glister  :  answering  to  the  avdpa^,  anthrax,  of  the  Greeks,  so 
called  because  when  held  to  the  sun  it  resembles  a  piece  of  bright  Imrn- 
ing  charcoal.  Indeed  its  name  carbuncle  means  a  little  coal,  and  refers 
us  at  once  to  a  livelij  coal-red.  Its  modern  name  is  the  garnet.  The 
Septuagint,  Josephus,  and  Lat.  Vulgate  have  rendered  in  tliis  place 
by  Gfiapaydog,  smaragdos,  emerald.  But  this  is  more  properly  the  ren- 
dering of  the  next  in  order.  The  carbuncle  and  tlie  emerald  have  in 
fact  in  some  way  become  transposed  in  the  Greek  version. 

4.  Emerald.  Ileb.  "liTD  nophek.  Gr.  avdpa^.  Tliis  gem  is  undoubt- 
edly the  same  with  tlie  ancient  smaragdos,  or  emerald,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  the  preiuous  stones.  It  is  characterized  by  a  bright 
green  color,  with  scarcely  any  mixture,  though  differing  somewhat  in 
degrees.  The  true  Oriental  emerald  is  now  very  scarce.  The  best 
that  are  at  present  accessible  are  from  Peru.  In  the  time  of  Closes 
they  came  from  India. 

5.  Sapphire.  Heb.  ^^^50  sappir.  Gr.  aa-n-cpeipoc,  sapphiros.  The 
word  is  very  nearly  the  same  in  all  known  languages,  and  as  to  tlic 
sapphire  itself  it  is,  after  the  diamond,  the  most  valual)lc  of  the  gems, 
exceeding  all  others  in  lustre  and  hardness.  It  is  of  a  skg-Uue,  or  fine 
azure  color,  in  all  the  choicest  specimens,  though  other  varieties  occur. 
Indeed  among  practical  jewellers  it  is  a  name  of  wider  application 
perhaps  than  that  of  any  of  the  rest  of  the  precious  stones.  Pliny 
says  that  in  his  time  the  best  sapphires  came  from  Media.  At  present 
they  are  found  in  greater  or  less  perfection  in  nearly  every  country. 

6.  Diamond.  Heb.  tD^rT^  i/ahalom,  from  tsbn  halam,  to  beat,  to  smite 
upon,  so  called  from  its  extraordinary  hardness,  by  which  like  a  ham- 
mer it  will  beat  to  pieces  any  of  the  other  sorts  of  stones.  Tiius  the 
Greeks  called  the  diamond  a()a/j.ac,  adamas,  from  Gr.  a,  not,  and  da/iau, 
damao,  to  subdue,  on  account  of  its  sujjposed  invincible  hardmss.  Ac- 
cordingly Pliny  says  of  diamonds,  that  "  they  are  found  to  resist  a 
stroke  on  the  anvil  to  such  a  degree  that  the  iron  itself  gives  way  and 
the  anvil  is  shattered  to  pieces."     This  is  no  doubt  exaggerated  and 


224  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

fabulous,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  justify  the  propriety  of  the  Hebrew 
name,  that  diamonds  are  much  harder  than  other  precious  stones,  and 
in  this  all  ai'C  agreed.  This  quality  of  the  diamond,  together  with  its 
incompai-able  brilliancy,  renders  it  by  far  the  most  valuable  of  all  the 
gems.     The  Gr.  here,  has  taa7ng,Jaspis,  ov  jasper. 

7.  LiGURE.  Ileb.  fl'b  leshem.  Gr.  ?u-}vpiov,  Ugurion.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  doubtful  of  the  pi'ccious  stones  as  to  color.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  closely  related  to  the  hi/acinth  (jacinth)  of  the  moderns,  which  is 
a  red  strongly  tinged  with  orange-jellow. 

8.  Agate.  Heb.  11"iJ  shebo.  Gr.  axarrjg,  achates,  agate.  This  is  a 
stone  of  a  great  variety  of  hues,  which  is  thought  by  some  to  be  iden- 
tical with  the  chrysopras,  and  if  so,  it  is  probable  that  a  golden-green  was 
the  predominant  color. 

9.  Amethyst.  Heb.  n^btlJ!^  ahlamah.  Gr.  aiie&varo^,  amethystos, 
from  a,  not,  and  ps&vajog,  drunken,  because  wine  di-ank  from  an  ame- 
thyst cup  was  supposed  by  the  ancients  to  prevent  inebriation.  The 
oriental  amethyst  is  a  transparent  gem,  the  color  of  which  seems  to  be 
composed  of  a  strong  blue  and  a  deep  red ;  and  according  as  either  pre- 
vails, aftbrding  different  tinges  of  purple,  and  sometimes  even  fading 
to  a  rose  color.  It  comes  from  Persia,  Arabia,  Armenia,  and  the  East 
Indies. 

10.  BEnvL.  Heb.  tl^'^w^il  tarshish.  Gr.  ;i;pvao?.ii?of,  chrysolithos.  A 
pellucid  gem  of  a  sea  or  bluish-green.  But  if,  as  many  mineralogists 
and  critics  suppose,  the  beryl  is  the  same  as  the  chrysolite,  it  is  a  gem  of 
yellowish-green  color,  and  ranks  at  present  among  the  topazes. 

11.  Onyx.  Heb.  tri'IJ  shoham ;  called  onyx  from  Gr.  ovv^,  onyx, 
from  the  resemblance  of  its  ground  color  to  that  lunated  spot  at  the 
base  of  the  human  jiail,  which  the  Greek  Avord  signifies.  It  is  a  semi- 
pellucid  stone  of  a  fine  flinty  texture,  of  a  waterish  sky-colored  ground, 
variegated  with  bands  of  white  and  brown,  which  run  parallel  to  each 
other.  It  is  here  rendered  by  the  Gr.  (irjpvXKiov,  beryllion,  beryl,  from 
some  apparent  confusion  in  the  order  of  the  names.  See  Note  on  Gen. 
ii.  12. 

12.  Jasper.  Heb.  nC'i;'!  yashepheh.  Gr.  ovvxi-ov,  onuchion.  The 
similarity  of  the  Hebrew  name  has  determined  most  critics  to  consider 
the  jasper  as  the  gem  intended  by  this  designation.  This  is  a  stone 
distinguished  by  such  a  vast  variety  of  hues,  that  it  is  extremely  haz- 
ardous to  fix  upon  any  one  as  its  distinguishing  color.  The  brown 
Egyptian  variety  is  conjectured  to  have  been  the  one  selected  for  the 
breastplate. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

NO   NEW   TESTAMENT    LEVITICTS.      APOSTOLICAL    SUCCESSION.      OF- 
FERINGS   FOR    THE    PRIESTS.       RETURN    OF    THE    JEWS. 

I  STATED,  in  tlie  course  of  previous  explanatory  remarks, 
that  one  reason,  at  least,  for  the  very  minute  details  respect- 
ing the  ceremonial  offerings  of  Aaron  and  liis  sons  —  the 
consecration  of  the  altar,  the  form  of  robe,  and  the  accom- 
paniments of  all  the  services  that  were  to  be  on  that  altar  — 
is,  that  the  children  of  Israel,  who  Mere  set  apart  for  the 
specific  purpose  of  being  a  model  nation  to  all  mankind,  and 
the  conservators  of  God's  Word  to  successive  generations, 
were  to  be  preserved  from  contact  with  every  thing  like  iiea- 
thenism,  and  to  be  kept  in  the  most  striking  way  from  in- 
corporating into  their  worship  any  thing  that  was  not  insti- 
tuted and  ordained  by  God.  If  a  single  0])eiiing  had  been 
left  in  these  regulations  of  Levi,  that  opening  would  have 
been  filled  up  by  some  rite  or  custom  borrowed  from  hea- 
thendom, and  that  rite,  or  custom,  or  ceremony,  thus  bor- 
rowed, would  have  been  a  medium  of  connection  between 
the  holy  Jew  and  the  profane  Gentile,  and  have  led  to  the 
desecration  of  the  one,  and  not  to  the  consecration  or  ct)ii- 
version  of  the  other. 

Do  we  not  also  gather  from  this  another  very  important 
lesson  —  that  if  God  had  designed  that  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment economy  there  should  be  only  one  form  of  worship, 
one  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  —  whether  that  form  be 
Episcopacy,  Presbytery,  or  Congregationalism  — if  it  hud 


226  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

been  God's  mind  that  the  whole  church  should  agree  and 
correspond  as  minutely,  in  every  rite,  as  the  ancient  church 
in  all  the  jots  and  tittles  of  the  requirements  of  Levi,  would 
he,  in  the  announcement  of  this  dispensation,  have  omitted 
to  lay  down  as  minutely  all  those  regulations  for  the  g-overn- 
ment  of  the  New  Testament  Church  in  all  generations  ? 
But  the  very  fact  that  we  have  no  Leviticus  of  the  New 
Testament  —  the  very  fact  that  we  have  no  such  rules  laid 
down  there  —  is  positive  demonstration  that  God  never  meant 
that  all  his  people  should  worship  publicly  in  precisely  the 
same  manner  and  form,  or  that  they  should  all  be  under  the 
same  ecclesiastical  rule.  He  has  laid  down  great  doctrina* 
truths,  exceedingly  distinctly  defined  ;  but  he  has  left  disci- 
pline in  a  latitudinarianism  that  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  in- 
structive to  us  respecting  his  mind  and  will  concerning  us. 
I  never  yet  could  discover  in  the  New  Testament  either  the 
Church  of  England,  or  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or  any  of 
the  dissenting  bodies.  I  can  find  in  the  New  Testament 
great,  broad  government  laws ;  I  can  see  that  there  were 
always  to  be  taught  and  teachers  ;  I  can  see  there  were  al- 
ways to  be  saci'aments  ;  I  can  see  there  was  to  be  a  Sab- 
bath ;  that  there  was  to  be  public  worship  and  the  reading 
of  God's  holy  AVord  in  public  ;  I  can  see  a  reason  for  the 
existence  of  a  visible  Church,  and  in  such  a  Church  there 
must  be  some  order,  some  design,  so  that  when  you  come 
into  the  sanctuary  you  shall  not  be  at  your  wits'  end  what  is 
the  form  or  the  custom  of  the  place ;  and  that  there  should 
be  a  governing  power,  whether  it  be  in  the  Archbishop  or 
in  the  General  Assembly  —  1  say  that  this  is  most  pro})er, 
most  expedient,  most  reasonable  ;  but  I  cannot  discover  in 
the  New  Testament  that  an  a})ostolical  succession,  or  an 
order  of  bishoj)S,  or  gradations  of  Presbyteries,  are  vital 
elements  of  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  Church.  And 
here,  speaking  of  that  very  thing  —  apostolical  succession  — 
you  will  notice,  that  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  their  sons'  sons, 


KXODU.S    XXIX.  227 

most  rigidly  traced  tlieir  succession,  and  their  names  were 
all  enrolled  in  the  public  lists  ;  and  the  succession  of  the 
Aaronitic  priesthood  was  so  certain  a  thin,^  that  nohody 
could  doubt  it,  and  the  most  significant  and  unmistakable 
rules  were  laid  down  to  regulate  it.  I>ut  we  hav(!  no  such 
thing  kept  up  in  the  New  Testament.  Does  it  tell  you  there 
that  no  minister  has  a  true  ministry  unless  he  can  trace  his 
genealogy  up  to  Peter  or  to  Paul?  The  thing  is  not  once 
mentioned ;  and  yet  an  apostle  actually  condescends  to  such 
minute  requirements  in  a  minister  as  that  he  should  not  be 
given  to  much  wine,  that  he  should  not  be  given  to  striking, 
that  he  should  be  the  husband  of  one  wife  —  he  descends  to 
such  minute  points  of  character,  but  he  does  not  once  men- 
tion, what  is  now  thought  vastly  greater,  the  apostolical  suc- 
cession. Would  he  have  omitted  so  vital  a  thing,  if  indeed 
it  had  been  a  vital  thing  at  all  ?  But  I  perfectly  agree  with 
Archbishop  Whately  —  one  of  the  most  powerful  minds  of 
the  present  day  —  who,  I  hear,  has  offered  a  considerable 
sum  to  any  priest  or  presbyter  upon  earth  —  Romish,  An- 
glican, Scotch,  or  Irish  —  who  will  trace  his  succession 
within  a  dozen  lives  of  any  one  of  the  apostles  whatever. 
Now  it  is  strange,  if  a  large  sum  can  be  so  easily  obtained, 
tliat  those  priests  Avho  say  that  they  have  the  true  apostolical 
succession,  and  can  prove  it,  do  not  come  forward  and  claim 
the  reward.  If  I  could  demonstrate  it,  I  would  certainly 
claim  it ;  and  it  is  very  strange  that  those  Avho  say  that  they 
have  the  apostolical  succession,  yet  will  not  put  forth  their 
hands  and  be  made  rich  at  so  little  labor  and  so  little  incon- 
venience. The  fact  is,  there  is  no  such  thing.  It  is  a  de- 
vout dream.  For  instance,  there  is  in  Scotland,  as  you  have 
all  heard,  what  is  called  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Church,  con- 
sisting- of  seventy  or  eighty  ministers  and  two  or  three 
bishops  ;  and  professing  to  be  a  sort  of  intermediate  Church 
between  the  Church  of  Home  and  the  Church  of  Kngland. 
Now  that  Church  prides  itself  upon  having  the  apostolical 


228  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

succession.  But  in  this  respect  it  is  the  most  defective 
Church  in  existence.  Three  Scotch  presbyters  came  to  be 
consecrated  bishops,  and  the  bishops  of  England  recognized 
these  presbyters  as  brethren,  and  on  that  footing  they  Avere 
consecrated  bishops.  But  according  to  the  Tractarian  notion, 
they  were  not  regenerated,  and  therefore  they  could  not  be 
made  presbyters.  They  were  not,  therefore,  presbyters  at 
all.  Those  who  came  to  be  consecrated  bishops  were  first 
baptized  and  ordained  by  presbyters  of  the  Scotch  Church. 
But  Scotch  Church  baptism  is  no  baptism  at  all  —  therefore 
they  were  not  regenerated,  therefore  they  were  not  Chris- 
tians, they  were  also  not  true  presbyters,  and  therefore  they 
could  not  be  bishops,  therefore  they  had  not  the  apostolical 
succession  at  all.*  But  the  fact  is,  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  the  apostolical  succession,  in  the  Tractarian  sense ; 
it  is  pure  nonsense.  The  Aaronitic  priesthood  continued  in 
uninterrupted  succession  until  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and 
when  Christ  came  it  passed  away. 

But  even  supposing  that  the  apostolical  succession  could 
be  clearly  traced  by  the  Church  of  England,  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  or  the  Church  of  Ireland,  what  would  be  the 
.worth  of  it?  What  was  the  doctrinal  worth  of  the  Aaronitic 
succession  —  a  most  uninterrupted  succession,  a  succession 
sanctioned  by  God  himself — a  chain  that  stretched  from 
Aaron,  in  Exodus,  down  to  Caiaphas,  the  last  high-priest  — 
what  was  the  result  of  it?  Priests  that  had  the  Aaronitic 
succession  gave  up  the  Son  of  God  —  preferred  Barabbas, 
a  thief  and  a  murderer,  to  the  Lord  of  glory,  and  imbrued 
their  hands  in  his  blood,  and  did  not  know  when  their  own 
Lord  came  to  be  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  What  was  the 
doctrinal  efficacy  of  it  ?    Literally  nothing.    And  what  is  the 

*  If  it  be  said  the  first  consecration  was  rectified  by  a  subsequent,  I 
reply,  the  hist  tlwee  Scotch  presbyters  after  being  consecrated  went  to 
Scotland,  and  consecrated  presbytcrian  clergymen  to  be  bishops,  and  so 
vitiated  the  whole  stream. 


EXODUS    XXIX.  220 

fact  now?  Go  into  Belgium,  and  you  will  see  that  wlu-n 
the  priests  put  on  tiieir  robes  they  are  almost  worshipped  ; 
but  the  instant  they  lay  them  aside  the  people  treat  thorn 
with  the  greatest  contempt.  Go  to  any  minister  who 
preaches  about  his  own  succession,  and  you  will  sec  that  he 
is  the  most  unpopular  man  in  the  parish  ;  but  go  to  a  man 
who  preaches  Christ,  and  himseit'  their  servant  tor  Christ's 
sake,  and  who  lives  purely  and  consistently,  and  you  will 
find  that  God  sets  his  seal  to  his  servant,  by  making  him  the 
most  esteemed  as  well  as  tlie  most  uscl'ul  and  thi'  most  de- 
voted to  his  cause.  If  I  wanted  to  destroy  a  Church,  I 
would  make  its  ministers  preach  their  succession,  not 
Christ ;  if  I  wanted  a  Church  to  be  universal,  1  would  say, 
Preach  Christ,  and  say  nothing  about  yourself;  depend 
upon  it  that  if  you  mind  the  Master's  glory,  the  blessed 
Master  will  take  care  of  your  Church  and  of  your  con- 
cerns. 

The  first  thing  that  we  read  of  in  this  chapter,  is  the 
description  of  the  offerings  that  were  to  be  offered  when  the 
priests  were  consecrated.  This  is  explained  by  a  text  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  —  that  these  priests  of  Aaron 
had  first  to  offer  for  themselves,  and  then  for  the  people. 
But  Jesus  —  in  his  contrast  to  them  —  having  no  sin,  had 
not  to  offer  for  himself;  he  was  holy,  spotless,  and  blame- 
less, before  the  people. 

We  next  read  of  the  consecration  of  the  i).\U\r,  and  all 
the  accompaniments  of  that  consecration.  We  have  then 
the  two  lambs  —  a  lamb  to  be  offered  in  the  morning,  and  a 
lamb  to  be  offered  in  the  evening,  as  the  daily  sacrifice. 
How  beautifidly  does  that  remind  us  of  what  John  said, 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world."  This  was  an  allusion  to  the  lamb  that  was 
oflfered  every  morning  and  every  evening;  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  when  John  said  these  words  it  was  early  in  the 
morning,  and  that  the  lamb  was  being  taken  to  the  temple 
20 


2.S0  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

for  the  morning  sacrifice :  and  the  people,  looking  at  the 
lamb  as  it  was  being  carried  to  the  holy  place,  and  looking 
on  it  reverently,  John  said  to  them,  "  Behold,  not  that 
lamb  —  this  morning  and  evening  lamb  —  this  is  now  done 
away ;  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world,"  —  that  is,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

At  the  close  of  the  chapter,  we  have  a  very  beautiful 
promise  made  to  the  children  of  Israel,  which,  I  believe, 
still  remains  to  be  fulfilled  ;  where  God  says,  "  I  will  dwell 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  be  their  God.  And 
they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  their  God,  that  brought 
them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  that  I  may  dwell 
among  them.  I  am  the  Lord  their  God."  And  in  the 
forty-third  verse :  "And  there  I  will  meet  with  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  the  tabernacle  shall  be  sanctified  by  my 
glory."  The  promise  was,  that  they  should  return  to  their 
own  land,  and  that  God  should  dwell  among  them ;  this  was 
not  fulfilled  in  their  exodus  from  Babylon,  and  there  is  no 
evidence  that  this  promise  has  yet  been  fulfilled.  I  believe 
that  it  was  partly  fulfilled  at  that  time,  but  that  the  chief 
part  of  it  yet  remains  to  be  fulfilled.  For  instance,  the 
prophet  Zechariah,  referring  to  the  Jews,  says,  "  Sing  and 
rejoice,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  for,  lo !  I  come,  and  I  will 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord.  And  many 
nations  shall  be  joined  to  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall  be 
my  people  :  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  thee. 
And  the  Lord  shall  inherit  Judah,  his  portion  in  the  holy 
land,  and  shall  choose  Jerusalem  again."  Now,  this  book 
was  written  by  Zechariah  after  the  captivity,  and  therefore 
ihe  prophecy  still  remained  to  be  fulfilled.  And  you  have 
the  very  same  prophecy  in  Ezekiel  xxxvii.  21,  where  he 
says,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God :  Beliold,  I  will  take  the 
children  of  Israel  from  among  the  heathen,  whither  they  be 
gone,  and  will  gather  them  on  every  side,  and  bring  them 


EXODUS    XXIX.  231 

into  tliclr  own  land;  and  I  Avill  make  tlicni  one  nation  in 
the  land  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel ;  and  one  kiiirr  shall 
be  king  to  them  all ;  and  they  shall  be  no  more  two  nations, 
neither  shall  they  be  divided  into  two  kingdoms"  —  as  they 
are  now —  "  any  more  at  all ;  neither  shall  they  defile  them- 
selves any  more  with  their  idols,  nor  with  their  detestable 
things,  nor  with  any  of  their  transgressions ;  but  I  will 
save  them  out  of  all  their  dwelling-places,  wherein  they 
have  sinned,  and  will  cleanse  them :  so  shall  they  be  my 
people,  and  I  will  be  their  God.  And  David,  my  servant, 
shall  be  king  over  them ;  and  they  shall  all  have  one  shep- 
herd :  they  shall  also  walk  in  my  judgments,  and  observe  my 
statutes,  and  do  them.  And  they  shall  dwell  in  the  land 
that  I  have  given  unto  Jacob,  my  servant,  wherein  your 
fathers  have  dwelt ;  and  they  shall  dwell  therein,  even  they, 
and  their  children,  and  their  children's  children  for  ever ; 
and  my  servant  David  shall  be  their  prince  for  ever."  You 
have  the  very  same  thing  repeated  in  Ezekiel  xliii.,  at  the 
fourth  verse,  where  he  says :  "And  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
came  into  the  house  by  the  way  of  the  gate,  whose  prospect 
is  toward  the  east.  So  the  spirit  took  me  up,  and  brought 
me  into  the  inner  court ;  and  behold,  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
filled  the  house.  And  I  heard  him  speaking  unto  me,  out 
of  the  house ;  and  the  man  stood  by  me.  And  he  said  unto 
me,  Son  of  man,  the  place  of  my  throne,  and  the  place  of 
the  soles  of  my  feet,  where  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the 
children  of  Israel  for  ever,  and  my  holy  name,  shall  the 
house  of  Israel  no  more  defile  ;  neither  they,  nor  their  kings, 
by  their  whoredom,  nor  by  the  carcases  of  their  kings  in 
their  high  places.  In  their  setting  of  their  threshold  by  my 
thresholds,  and  their  post  by  my  posts,  and  the  wall  between 
me  and  them,  they  have  even  defiled  my  holy  name  by 
their  abominations  that  they  have  committed  ;  wherefore  I 
have  consumed  them  in  mine  anger.  Now,  let  them  put 
away  their  whoredom,  and  the  carcases   of  their  kings,  far 


232  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

from  me,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  them  for  ever." 
Now,  all  these  promises  are  to  me  clear  evidence  that  the 
Jews  are  to  return  to  their  own  country.  And  the  more 
spiritual  a  Jew  becomes,  the  less  he  desires  to  have  political 
position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Whether  the  pres- 
ent regulations  with  regard  to  the  Jews  are  right  or  wrong, 
it  is  the  worldly,  and  not  the  spiritual,  Jew  who  desires  such 
honors.  Those  who  do  not  yet  see  their  way  to  embrace 
the  Messiah,  but  to  whom,  as  waiting  and  longing,  the  Mes- 
siah, as  to  Simeon,  will  yet  be  revealed,  have  their  hearts, 
not  in  England,  but  in  Palestine.  I  believe  we  are  on  the 
very  verge  of  an  exodus  more  majestic  than  was  witnessed 
from  Egypt  to  Palestine;  and  that,  as  soon  as  Turkey 
falls  —  and  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  may  prop  it  up  as 
they  please,  but  it  will  fall  soon  —  for  it  has  been  decreed 
that  in  a  very  short  time  the  great  river  Euphrates  shall  be 
dried  up  ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  crescent  wanes,  then  God's 
ancient  people  will  return  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and 
restore  Jerusalem  to  a  greater  splendor  than  was  ever  wit- 
nessed before ;  and  then  Jesus  —  who  is  David,  their 
king  —  shall  reveal  himself  to  them.  And  if  their  fall  was 
the  benefit  of  the  Gentiles,  what  shall  their  return  be  but 
as  life  from  the  dead  ? 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

LEVITICAL  AND  EVANGELICAL  WORSUIP.  GOLDEN  ALTAR.  ANGEL 
BY  THE  GOLDEN  ALTAR.  ATONEMENT  FOR  GOLDEN  ALTAR. 
WASHINGS.      HOLY    OIL.      ALL   NATURE    TAINTED. 

I  EXPLAINED,  in  the  course  of  my  remarks  upon  tlie 
cliapters  that  immediately  precede  this,  that  all  this  minute 
regulation  was  necessary  to  a  people  not  sulliciently  en- 
lightened, and  prepared,  wherever  there  was  an  opening  for 
it,  to  admit  idolatrous  and  extraneous  rites  of  the  surround- 
ing nations ;  and,  therefore,  that  there  might  be  no  excuse 
or  apology  for  borrowing  from  the  heathen  a  single  rite, 
God  laid  down  minutely  every  regulation,  built  up  every 
interstice  with  his  own  Divine  prescription,  and  made 
Leviticus  one  solid  and  compact  whole,  lull  of  (*omj)lete 
rites  and  observances  for  this  rebellious,  obdurate,  and  so 
often,  and  so  painfully,  wavering  people. 

In  this  chapter,  we  have  a  succession  of  additional  rites 
and  prescriptions  by  God  himself,  for  special  parts  of  his 
worship.  Now,  it  would,  in  one  sense,  be  most  scriptural 
for  any  Church  to  adopt  all  the  material  rites  that  are  here 
laid  down  —  burning  incense,  anointing  witli  oil,  washing, 
as  you  enter  the  sanctuary,  with  holy  water,  having  an  altar 
for  it;  all  this  would,  in  one  sense,  be  most  scriptural  — 
that  is,  in  the  letter  it  would  be  so  ;  but,  in  the  sjjirit  of 
Scripture,  it  would  be  a  gross  apostasy  from  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  whole  Levitical  economy  was  a 
system  of  various  observances,  intended,  like  dark  shadows, 
20* 


234  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

to  indicate  the  approach  of  the  sun,  whose  rise  should  dis- 
pel the  shadows,  and  necessarily  take  their  place ;  and, 
therefore,  every  rite  that  was  instituted  in  Leviticus  had  its 
moral  or  spiritual  significance ;  and  he  acts  scripturally, 
and  that  Cliurch  is  the  most  scriptural,  that  lets  alone 
the  material  incense  and  the  material  holy  water,  and 
washes  his  hands  in  innocency,  and  has  the  unction  of  the 
Holy  One,  and  lifts  up,  not  incense  that  the  outer  sense  can 
appreciate,  but  the  incense  of  pure  affection,  loving  hearts, 
joyful  and  thankful  praise  to  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  So  that  you  will  see  how  wrong  it  is 
to  quote  literally  a  portion  of  Scripture,  in  order  to  justify  a 
practice,  while  really,  understood  as  it  should  be  understood, 
it  condemns  the  practice  altogether.  The  fact  is,  take  away 
the  New  Testament,  and  then  all  this  will  be  proper  enough  ; 
but  add  the  New  Testament,  and  then  the  material  gives 
way  to  the  moral ;  and  God,  a  Spirit  in  the  days  of  Levi, 
just  as  he  is  a  Spirit  now,  and  to  be  worshipped  both  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  —  but  then  in  limited  formulas ;  now, 
neither  on  this  mountain  nor  on  that,  but  wherever  there  is 
a  spiritual  mind,  there  there  may  be  offered  spiritual  wor- 
"ship  through  Christ  Jesus. 

The  first  thing  that  comes  before  us  here  is  the  golden 
altar.  You  will  recollect  the  fact  —  and  nothing,  1  believe, 
is  more  instructive  to  a  Christian  than  these  material  insti- 
tutions of  Levi,  provided  you  allow  the  light  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  to  shine  upon  them  —  you  will  recollect,  I 
say,  the  fact,  that  there  was  first  of  all  the  altar  of  brass, 
on  which  burnt  propitiatory  sacrifices  were  offered.  Then, 
there  is  here  the  golden  altar  —  inlaid  and  covered  over 
with  gold  —  on  which  incense  was  burnt,  and  from  which 
that  incense  arose,  as  a  sweet  perfume  to  God.  Now,  the 
two  altars  were  thus  intended  to  designate  one  grand 
truth  —  that,  first  of  all,  there  is  a  sacrifice  without  the 
gate  which  Jesus  offered,  and  which  was  perfected  when  he 


EXODUS    XXX.  235 

exclaimed  upon  the  cross,  "  It  is  riiiished  ; "  and  then,  when 
he  had  otl'ered  the  sacrilice  without  — by  which  jour  sins 
and  my  sins  are  blotted  out  —  he  entered  within  tlie  holy 
place,  and  now  presents  the  prayers  of  his  people  with 
intercession  and  pleading  beside  his  Father  wdio  is  in 
heaven.  The  brazen  altar  answers  to  Christ's  atonement 
without  the  camp ;  the  golden  altar  corresponds  to  Christ's 
ofFeuing  our  praises  and  our  prayers,  purified  with  the 
incense  of  his  own  merits,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  in 
glory  for  ever.  Hence,  in  Revelations  viii.  we  read :  "And 
another  angel  came  and  stood  at  the  altar "  —  that  is,  evi- 
dently, the  altar  of  incense,  —  "  having  a  golden  censer,"  — 
used  for  perfume,  —  "and  there  was  given  unto  him  much 
incense,  that  he  should  offer  it,  with  the  prayers  of  all 
saints,  upon  the  golden  altar  which  was  before  the  throne." 
Now,  the  high-priest  alone  had  a  golden  censer ;  the  com- 
mon priests  had  silver  ones  ;  and  to  this  priest  angel,  who 
is  none  else  than  Jesus  Christ,  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant, 
who  with  the  golden  censer  stood  beside  the  golden  altar  — 
"there  was  given  much  incense"  —  his  own  precious  mer- 
its — "  that  he  should  offer  it  with  the  prayers  of  all 
saints"  —  not  as  a  celebrated  Roman  Catholic  dignitary  has 
interpreted  it,  that  saints  in  heaven  could  join  with  him  in 
supplicating  for  us  on  earth  ;  but  it  is,  that  he  should  offer 
the  prayers  of  all  saints.  Who  are  saints  ?  Not  those  that 
the  Pope  canonizes,  and  proclaims  to  be  in  heaven  ;  but 
those  that  the  Holy  Spirit  consecrates  and  leaves  on  earth. 
Every  epistle  in  the  New  Testament  is  addressed  to  the 
saints  at  Rome,  at  Philippi,  etc.,  etc.,  to  the  people  set 
apart  by  God  to  become  Christians  ;  and  this  Angel,  or 
Christ,  offers  in  his  censer  his  own  incense  of  merit  with 
our  prayers  ;  it  being  a  sad  and  sorrowful  fact,  that  our 
purest  prayers  have  so  much  alloy  of  imperfection,  that 
unless  placed  in  the  golden  censer  of  the  Great  Iligli- 
Priest,  and  presented  amid  the  perfume  of  his  own  blessed 


236  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

intercession,  they  never  could  cleave  the  skies,  or  draw- 
down an  answer  of  mercy  and  of  peace.  But  how  blessed 
is  the  thought  that,  for  all  our  sins  —  the  sins  of  every 
day  —  we  have  a  perfect  atonement,  finished  on  the  altar 
of  brass  without;  for  all  our  short-comings  and  defects 
every  day,  our  imperfect  prayers,  our  imperfect  praises,  we 
have  One  who  is  by  the  golden  altar  with  the  golden  cen- 
ser, and  who  finds  admission  for  the  least  petition  that  an 
orphan  utters,  and  for  the  loftiest  want  that  an  archangel 
feels.  Thus,  the  golden  altar  was  the  symbol  of  Christ's 
ceaseless  intercession ;  and  on  that  altar,  Aaron  —  that  is, 
the  high-priest  through  successive  generations  —  v/as  to 
burn  incense. 

But  it  is  a  very  striking  phase  in  this  history,  that  it  says 
in  the  tenth  verse,  that  Aaron  should  make  an  atonement 
upon  the  horns  of  it.  How  strange !  There  was  no  atone- 
ment upon  it,  as  upon  the  altar  of  brass  ;  but,  to  indicate 
that  that  economy  w^as  altogether  imperfect,  and  that  there 
needed  to  be  an  atonement  oiFered  for  the  prayers,  for  the 
intercessions  of  the  high-priest  himself,  once  a  year,  upon 
the  great  day  of  atonement,  the  golden  altar  itself  had  the 
.horns  touched  with  atoning  blood,  to  show  that  those  sacri- 
fices that  were  offered  year  by  year  could  never  make  the 
comers  thereto  perfect,  could  never  take  away  sin  —  and  to 
make  all  Israel,  from  its  inmost  heart,  long  and  yearn  for  a 
more  perfect  sacrifice,  which,  once  offered,  takes  away  sin, 
and  which  needs  no  atonement ;  for  it  is  in  itself  infinitely 
perfect  and  complete. 

We  then  read  of  the  "  laver  of  brass,"  with  water  in  it, 
in  which  the  priests  were  to  wash  before  they  approached 
the  altar.  Now,  it  might  be  literally  scriptural  if  you  were 
to  have  a  font,  with  what  is  called  ''  holy  water,"  at  the  door, 
and  to  sprinkle  yourself  with  it  before  you  come  into  the 
congregation  ;  but  it  would  be  most  unchristian  ;  and  to  quote 
this  passage  as  a  reason  for  it  really  is  to  misquote  and 


EXODUS   XXX.  237 

abuse  God's  holy  Word.  This  was  right  then  ;  but,  because 
it  was  right  then,  it  is  wrong  now.  The  end  of  it  is  come  : 
when  the  flower  blossoms,  the  petals  die ;  when  the  fruit  is 
formed,  the  blossom  withers  and  drops  ;  when  the  antitype 
is  come,  the  type  goes ;  and  to  copy  the  type  now,  to  imitate 
the  type  now,  is  practically  to  cancel  the  last  eighteen  lum- 
dred  years,  and  conclude  the  end  is  not  come,  and  to  say, 
"  We  are  not  in  Christ,  but  we  are  under  Levi,  and  still 
subject  to  bondage."  Then,  what  is  meant  by  this  washing 
now  ?  It  is  what  the  Psalmist  says  very  beautifully,  '"  I 
will  wash  mine  hands  in  inno-cency."  In  what  innocence  ? 
In  that  blood  —  the  only  innocent  thing  in  God's  universe  — 
that  was  to  be  for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  the  guilty. 
Hence,  all  those  allusions  in  the  New  Testament  — "  the 
washing  of  water,"  "  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The 
apostle's  expression,  "  washing  of  water,"  is  not  in  reference 
to  baptism,  but  in  reference  to  this ;  and  he  is  using  Levit- 
ical  language  to  convey  a  New  Testament  or  a  grand  Chris- 
tian truth —  namely,  that  God  loves  those  to  approach  him  in 
worship,  not  who  wear  the  most  splendid  robes,  not  who 
have  the  greatest  wealth,  or  power,  or  position  ;  but  the 
clean  hands,  and  the  clean  hearts,  and  those  that  give  up 
neither  hand  nor  heart  to  vanity,  but  who  serve  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth. 

We  have,  next,  the  holy  anointing  oil,  composed  of  the 
most  precious  elements  combined  together ;  and  this  holy 
anointing  oil  was  applied  to  every  thing,  to  indicate  that 
every  thing  was  impure,  and  needed  to  be  consecrated. 

What  does  all  this  teach  us  ?  It  teaches  us  tliat  all  crea- 
tion, all  created  things,  are  tainted.  The  beautiful  flowers 
that  burst  from  the  earth,  the  grand  trees  that  wave  in  the 
sunshine  and  in  the  storm,  rock  and  crystal,  river  and  ocean, 
all  that  is  minute,  all  that  is  great —  all  have  the  taint  of 
man's  transgression  ;  for  when  man  sinned  against  God,  all 
nature  felt  the  effects  of  his  sin,  and  was  dragged  down  with 


238  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

him.  But,  just  as  every  thing  here  was  consecrated  by  that 
outward  oil,  so  we  believe  that  not  consecrating  oil,  but  a 
consecrating  hand,  shall  one  day  be  waved  over  all  creation  ; 
and  then  nature  shall  be  restored  to  her  first  beauty,  and 
all  things,  however  tainted  by  sin  now,  shall  be  made  holy ; 
and  all  hearts  thus  made  holy,  shall  be  made  happy,  and  a 
better  Paradise  shall  close  the  world  than  the  Paradise  that 
commenced  it. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

EECAriTULATION.  PERSONS  INSPIRED  TO  EXECUTE  THE  DIVINE 
PLAN.  GIFTS  AND  GRACES  NOT  ALWAYS  UNITED.  EDUCATION. 
SECULAR  TEACHING  IN  INDIA.  THE  SABBATH  AND  SANCTU- 
ARY  WORK.      SABBATH   AND    CRYSTAL   PALACE. 

This  last  chapter  contains  the  words  that  were  addressed 
to  Moses,  at  the  close  of  the  forty  days'  sojourn  on  the  Mount, 
in  intimate  personal  communion  with  God.  It  is  also  a  siun- 
mary  of  all  the  institutions  and  the  furniture  of  the  taber- 
nacle, which  God  so  minutely  specified  in  the  previous  chap- 
ters, and  of  which  I  have  already  given  a  sufficiently  plain 
exposition.  He  states  that,  in  order  to  promote  all  these 
elaborate  arrangements,  the  exquisitely  chased  golden  candle- 
stick that  was  to  be  in  the  holy  of  holic-s,  the  mercy-seat,  tlie 
cherubim  that  were  to  overshadow  it  with  their  wings,  to 
indicate  the  desire  that  the  angels  have  to  look  into  those 
things  —  the  vail  that  was  to  separate  the  holy  of  holies 
from  the  holy  place  —  the  curtains,  and  all  the  other  orna- 
ments of  the  tabemacle,  God  raised  up  "  Bezaleel,  the  son 
of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,"  to  execute 
and  complete.  Now  just  notice  here:  God  gave  the  plan 
clearly,  graphically,  distinctly,  to  Moses ;  but  it  needed  men 
raised  up  specially  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  execute  the  plan, 
and  to  give  it  practical  development.  And  we  learn  from 
this  fact,  that  a  gifted  intellect  is  as  much  the  creation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  as  a  regenerate  heart.  Gifts  are  from  God 
as  truly  as  graces :  it  needs  the  guidance  of  God's  good 


240  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Spirit  to  enable  a  man  "  to  ^vork  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and 
in  brass,  and  in  cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them ;  and  in  carv- 
ing of  timber,  to  work  in  all  manner  of  workmanship  ;  "  just 
as  it  does  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  God.  A  great  intellect,  I  repeat,  is  as  much  the  gift 
of  God,  as  a  holy  and  sanctified  heart  is  from  the  grace  of 
God  ;  only  we  must  always  remember  that  the  two  are  not 
necessarily  combined  ;  that  the  latter  —  the  sanctified  heart 
—  is  saving;  but  that  the  former  —  the  gifted  intellect  — 
may  be  an  element  of  ruin,  not  of  everlasting  blessedness  in 
the  sight  of  God.  Many  men  have  transcendent  gifts,  that 
shed  new  light  upon  the  world  by  their  splendor,  who,  at  the 
same  time,  have  hearts  sunk  in  depravity,  and  wickedness, 
and  sin.  They  have  been  raised  to  heaven  by  the  greatness 
of  their  gifts ;  they  sink  themselves  to  ruin  by  the  degener- 
acy of  their  lives.  Far  better  have  a  holy  heart,  and  a 
very  ungifted  intellect,  than  have  the  most  gigantic  mind, 
but  have  a  depraved  heart  to  wield  and  to  make  use  of  it. 
I  know  no  combination  more  terrible  in  this  world,  than  to 
have  an  archangel's  wisdom,  but  to  have  a  fiend's  depravity 
to  make  use  of  it ;  and  I  can  conceive  no  education  more 
mischievous  in  this  world,  than  the  education  which  culti- 
vates the  intellect  to  the  utmost,  but  leaves  the  heart  to  its 
own  inherent  and  fallen  tendencies  and  propensities.  Edu- 
cation is  not  storing  man's  memory  with  historical  facts,  or 
with  scientific  laws ;  nor  is  it  cultivating  and  sharpening 
man's  intellect  by  constant  usage ;  but  while  it  is  this,  it  is 
also  sanctifying  man's  heart  by  that  knowledge  which  is  not 
only  power,  but  is  also  holiness  and  peace :  and  I  cannot 
conceive  a  greater  calamity  to  happen  to  a  nation,  than  to 
teach  it  this  world's  wisdom  by  the  master-spirits  of  the  day, 
but  to  have  nol)ody  to  give  it  that  teaching  —  the  unction  of 
the  Holy  One,  the  sanctifying  truths  that  sweeten  all  other 
knowledge,  and  make  it  not  only  light  to  direct  through  the 
intricacies  of  science,  but  life  to  sustain  in  the  hopes  and 


EXODUS    XXXI.  241 

prospects  of  everlasting  joy  in  tlie  presence  of  God.  Nt-ver, 
therefore,  my  dear  friends,  either  countenance  yourselves,  or 
sanction,  directly,  or  indirectly,  any  teaching  that  is  not  ac- 
companied by,  based  on,  and  saturated  with,  living,  true, 
spiritual  Christianity.  Not  that  we  fear  knowledge  ;  1  know 
that  it  is  for  better  to  have  a  people  instructed  only  in  sec- 
ular wisdom,  than  tohave  a  people  lying  in  the  depths  of 
intellectual  ignorance  ;  but  then,  I  think,  when  we  can  have 
both  the  light  that  shows,  and  the  grace  that  directs,  we 
ought  never  to  be  satisfied  with  the  one  without  possessing 
the  other  also.  In  some  countries,  it  is  more  light  that  is 
needed.  In  India,  for  instance,  I  believe  education  and 
science  are  most  needed.  I  would  send  more  teachers,  if  I 
could,  to  instruct  the  Hindoos  in  science  alone.  If  I  can 
get  them  to  educate  in  Cliristianity,  too,  then  by  all  means 
let  them  do  it ;  but  one  would  rather  have  education  there 
in  science  alone,  than  no  teaching  at  all ;  and  for  this  special 
reason,  —  that  the  whole  Hindoo  religion  is  a  composite  of 
scientific  absurdities,  as  well  as  religious  untruths  ;  and  that 
man  who  proves  to  a  Hindoo  that  an  eclipse  of  the  moon 
will  take  place  on  a  certain  day,  or  that  an  eclipse  of  the  sun 
will  happen  at  a  certain  hour,  does  not  only  correct  a  scien- 
tific misapprehension  on  the  part  of  that  Hindoo,  but  he  also 
destroys  a  dogma  of  his  religion  and  his  creed ;  and  when 
you  do  this,  you  convey  to  his  mind  the  necessary  result 
that  his  religion  altogether  is  wrong ;  for  if  one  dogma  of  it 
is  clearly  proved  to  be  uninspired,  you  show  that  the  whole 
edifice  must  crumble  and  fall  together.  And  therefore  to 
prove  this  to  him  is  good ;  but  whilst  this  is  done  by  the 
mere  teacher  of  secular  knowledge,  the  Church  of  Christ 
ought  to  follow  him  up  with  the  teaching  of  that  knowledge 
which  is  life  everlasting.  We  thus  see,  that  God  gives  light 
to  the  intellect,  as  well  as  grace  to  the  heart ;  and  we  may, 
perhaps,  from  this  learn  a  very  humbling,  but  a  very  ble.ssed 
truth  —  that  the  man  with  a  gifted  intellect  is  as  much  sum- 
21 


242  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

moned  to  bow  the  knee,  and  to  thank  the  Fountain  and  the 
Author  of  it,  as  the  man  that  has  a  sanctified  heart  feels  it 
his  privilege  to  bow  his  knee,  and  to  bless  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  gave  it,  for  this  his  distinguishing  grace  and  mercy. 

After  recapitulating  all  those  things  which  these  artisans 
were  raised  up  to  construct,  God  reverts  to  his  Law,  refer- 
ring to  the  law  repeatedly  stated  before,  respecting  the  Sab- 
bath. Now  just  notice  that,  he  warns  them,  while  telling 
them  that  they  were  thus  to  accomplish  and  complete  the 
furniture  of  the  tabernacle,  that  they  were,  at  the  same 
time,  not  to  go  on  with  this  work  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 
Now  mark  you,  the  work  that  He  assigned  to  Bezaleel,  the 
son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  was  essentially  a  sacred  work ; 
but  He  says.  Though  it  be  so,  you  are  not  to  carry  on  that 
work  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  For  instance,  now,  to  study 
God's  wisdom  in  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  field,  —  to 
study  his  beneficence  in  all  the  laws  that  regulate  living 
organisms,  —  is  so  far  a  divine  work ;  but  yet  it  is  work 
that  belongs  to  the  week  day :  it  does  not  specifically  belong 
to  the  Sabbath.  The  six  days  of  the  week  are  for  teaching 
what  God  the  Creator  is ;  but  there  is  one  day  in  the  week 
that  ought  to  be  specially  devoted  to  inquire  what  God  the 
Kedeemer  has  done.  Let  Saturday,  if  you  like,  be  for  the 
commemoration  of  creation  work ;  but  let  the  Sabbath  days 
be  consecrated  to  the  study  of  Redemption  work.  And 
hence,  to  build  a  church  is  a  sacred  work.  But  it  would  be 
just  as  wicked  to  build  churches  on  Sunday,  as  to  build 
theatres.  It  is  not  the  end  of  a  work  that  will  vindicate 
that  work,  upon  a  day  on  which  it  is  not  proper:  that  day 
has  its  own  peculiar  service,  it  is  sanctified  to  its  own  pecu- 
liar study.  And  you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  those  who 
are  trying  to  teach  the  working  man  to  give  up  the  Sabbath 
to  worldly  amusements  and  enjoyment,  are  taking  away 
from  him  stealthily,  it  may  be  unintentionally,  his  best  and 
his  most  precious  birthright.     Once  take  the  Sabbath  off  its 


EXODUS   XXXI.  248 

divine  foundation,  and  say  it  is  lawful  to  go  to  the  Crystid 
Palace  for  amusement  on  the  Sabbath,  instead  of  goiu'^  to 
the  house  of  God,  and  the  next  ste[)  in  these  avaricious, 
grinding  days  will  be,  "  Well,  you  admit  that  the  Saljbath 
has  no  divine  warrant ;  why  should  you  have  one  day  out 
of  the  seven  for  play,  when  we  want  to  ha\e  you  do  more 
in  the  workshop  ?  "  If  the  Sabbath  be  once  taken  from  the 
service  of  God,  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  it  cannot  long 
be  kept  from  the  drudgery  and  slavery  of  Mammon.  At 
the  same  time,  I  have  always  felt,  in  reference  to  that  sub- 
ject about  which  so  much  has  been  said,  and  so  much 
wrongly  said,  that  we  cannot  practically  maintain  the  Sab- 
bath for  the  Christian  instruction  of  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try, unless  we  contrive  to  give  them  Saturday,  or  a  portion 
of  Saturday,  for  a  holiday.  You  may  depend  upon  it,  that 
Christian  people  who  love  the  Sabbath  will  never  give  it 
up  ;  but  many  think  that  the  minister  of  the  gospel,  in  ad- 
vocating the  claims  of  the  Sabbath,  is  only  trying  to  keep  a 
congregation  for  himself,  which  he  is  conscious  that  he  can- 
not interest  or  amuse,  and  therefore  he  is  afraid  that  they 
should  go  and  be  better  amused  elsewhere  than  in  the  house 
of  God.  But  when  we  know,  looking  at  this  great  city 
with  its  nearly  three  millions  of  inhabitants,  that  there  are 
men  toiling  in  it  from  six,  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning 
till  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  at  night ;  some  in  under- 
ground cellars,  others  in  miserable  garrets,  never  breathing 
a  breath  of  fresh  air,  forgetting  what  flowers  are,  or  how 
they  smell,  or  how  green  grass  looks; — I  say,  when  we 
think  of  this,  it  appears  most  cruel  to  say  to  these  men.  You 
shall  never  go  out  on  the  only  day  on  which  it  is  i)ossibIe 
for  you  to  see  the  fxowers,  and  to  breathe  the  iresh  air.  And 
when  we  feel  that  we  cannot  give  up  the  Sabbath,  because 
it  is  a  divine  institution  —  when  we  feel  that  the  fourth 
commandment  is  a  huv  that  we  never  can  compromise  — 
when  we  feel  that  the  soul  of  man  demands  it,  we  may  say 


2-14:  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

to  those  men  that  are  attempting  the  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath,  "You  just  give  up  a  little  of  your  six  days;  let 
your  young  men  free  every  Saturday  at  two  o'clock;  let 
them  go  and  enjoy  the  flowers,  and  breathe  the  fresh  air, 
and  visit  the  Crystal  Palace,  which  will  be  worth  any  one's 
while  to  visit,  and  in  which  there  will  be  much  that  is  fitted 
to  instruct  and  to  edify,  and  much  that  is  good.  Do  this. 
Just  take  a  little  from  the  exactions  of  Mammon,  but  do 
•not  intrude  upon  the  holy  day  of  God."  The  injunction 
that  is  by  many  laid  upon  the  working  man  is  this:  — 
"  You  may  trespass  upon  God's  day  as  you  like ;  but  you 
must  not  trespass,  for  the  life  of  you,  upon  Mammon's." 
Now  you  say,  "  We  will  not  trespass  upon  God's  day,  we 
will  dedicate  it  to  its  right  ends ;  we  believe  in  its  divine 
foundation  ;  but  we  do  insist  upon  your  giving  up  a  portion 
of  a  week  day  ;  and  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  you  will 
not  be  one  whit  poorer,  or  in  any  degree  the  loser,  and  we 
shall  be  richer ;  you  will  do  that  which  will  not  rob  you, 
and  which  will  make  us  rich  indeed."  Of  course  all  that  I 
have  said  upon  this  subject  assumes  that  the  Sabbath  is  still 
obligatory  upon  man :  I  do  not  attempt  to  prove  it  here, 
tliougli  it  is  very  easily  done.  It  has  always  been  found, 
that  the  instant  the  Sabbath  is  sacriticed  to  pleasure,  that 
moment  the  sanctuary  loses  all  its  blessings,  and  a  nation 
retrogrades  and  sinks  in  all  that  dignifies  and  beautifies  a 
land.  Just  take  the  Sabbath  as  it  is  in  parts  of  Prussia; 
see  the  Sabbath  as  it  is  there ;  view  it  still  more  so  as  it  is 
in  France ;  and  you  will  see  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  the  sacrifice  of  one  of  the  most  precious  springs  of 
Christianity;  and  a  nation  suffers  necessarily  in  consequence 
in  all  its  interests. 

But  while  we  contend  for  the  Sabbath,  let  us,  as  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  try  to  make  the  sanctuary  so  interesting 
that  tlie  ])eo])le  shall  find  more  pleasure  in  texts  than  they 
ever  can  in  the  contemplation  of  the  beauties  of  a  Crystal 


EXODUS    XXXT.  245 

Palace:  and  let  those  who  keep  the  Sabbath  because  they 
are  Christians,  show  that  it  is  not  a  day  that  God  has 
cursed,  but  a  day  that  God  has  blessed;  let  them  show  that 
it  is  not  a  Pliarisaie  day,  for  fasting,  and  for  all  tliat  can 
sadden  and  make  sorrowful ;  but  a  day  of  joy,  a  delightful 
day,  a  day  of  privilege: — not  Jewish,  but  Christian;  and 
breathing  the  air  and  feeling  the  sunshine  of  love,  and  joy, 
and  peace,  which  are  constituent  elements  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ. 

21* 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 


TABERXACLE    FURNITURE, 


We  find  a  summary  of  all  the  furniture,  about  which  we 
have  been  reading,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  these 
words :  — 

"  Then  verily  the  first  covenant  had  also  ordinances  of  divine  service,  and 
a  worldly  sanctuary.  For  there  was  a  tabernacle  made;  the  first, 
wherein  was  the  candlestick,  and  the  table,  and  the  shewbread;  which 
is  called  the  sanctuary.  And  after  the  second  veil,  the  tabernacle 
which  is  called  the  Holiest  of  all :  Avhich  had  the  golden  censer,  and 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  overlaid  round  about  with  gold,  wherein  was 
the  golden  pot  that  had  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod  that  budded,  and  the 
tables  of  the  covenant;  and  over  it  the  cherubims  of  glory  shadowing 
the  mcrc3'-seat;  of  which  we  cannot  now  speak  particularly." 

Hebrews  ix.  1,  5. 

Let  me,  first  of  all,  explain  the  connection  of  the  passage 
I  have  read  with  the  argument  of  the  apostle  in  the  previous 
chapter.  He  tells  thrm,  that  the  covenant  made,  or  the  bar- 
gain —  it"  I  may  use  a  familiar  expression,  the  arrangement 
made  with  God's  people  —  has  passed  away,  and  that  "  this 
is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel 
after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  put  my  laws  into 
their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their  hearts :  and  1  will  be  to 
them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people."  And,  ''  In 
that  he  saith,  A  new  covenant,  he  hath  made  the  h'rst  old. 
Now  that  which  decayeth  and  waxeth  old  is  ready  to  vanish 
away."  Tliis  was  not  merely  suited  to  the  people  of  the 
da}',  but  suited  for  the  Avorship  of  God ;  for  it  had  also  ordi- 


TABERNACLE    FUUNITUUE.  217 

nances,  to  lead  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  wav  of 
acceptance  before  God.  And  it  had  also  a  worldly  sanc- 
tuary. The  word  "  worldly  "  is  not  used  there  in  the  sense 
of  sinful,  but  in  the  sense  of  material,  carnal — what  may 
be  touched,  and  seen,  and  which  is  visible. 

And  then  he  goes  on  to  notice  several  of  th(>  Icadini^  iVa- 
tures  of  the  tabernacle,  the  minnte  and  specilic  character  of 
which  we  have  now  been  reading. 

It  is  so  very  important  to  ex})lain,  that  the  great  end  of 
all  the  order  of  Levi,  and  all  the  "worldly"  ordinances, 
was  plainly  to  shadow  forth,  or  to  give  tlie  jjcople  of  that 
day,  in  the  infant  state  of  the  world,  an  idea  of  greater  and 
more  glorious  things.  The  Bible  is  one  magnificent  and 
consistent  whole  ;  but  it  is  the  history  of  progress,  not  of 
standing  still.  You  see  the  little  ray,  scarcely  illuminating 
the  night,  becoming  brighter  and  brighter,  till  it  ends  in  the 
glorious  sunshine  of  open  day.  You  have  in  this  one;  book 
all  the  varied  colors  of  the  rainbow  —  each  color  its  own 
definite  place  to  play  in,  but  all  colors  combined  in  Cljri.4, 
constituting  the  pure  light  —  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You 
have  in  the  Bible  all  the  varied  typograjjhy.  One  part,  if  I 
may  so  speak,  is  written  in  hieroglyph,  another  in  Saxon 
character,  another  in  black  letter,  another  in  Greek,  another 
in  Hebrew,  another  in  Latin  ;  but  all  the  varied  typography 
includes  and  teaches  one  grand  truth  —  Christ  as  the  end  of 
the  law,  our  Atonement,  our  Sacrifice,  our  Prophet,  our 
Priest,  our  King.  Take  the  Bible  from  the  very  beginning 
to  the  very  end,  and  you  will  find  the  first  martyr,  Abel, 
ministering  beside  the  footstool  ;  the  first  patriarch,  Abra- 
ham, going  to  a  country  he  knew  not  where ;  Aaron  stand- 
ing before  the  altar  ;  Moses  ministering  on  the  mount  ;  the 
holy  Psalmist  celebrating  God's  pmise ;  great  pro()hc-ts  pro- 
claiming the  advent  of  the  Saviour;  evangeli.->ts  writing; 
apostles  arguing  ;  the  seer  in  the  Apocalypse  recording,  in 
words,  the  magnificent  drama  that  swept  betore  his  eyas, — 


248  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

all  acting,  however  varied,  however  apparently  conflicting, 
as  the  amanuenses  of  the  one  Holy  Spirit ;  each  writing  his 
portion,  but  all  giving  expression  to  one  grand  and  blessed 
testimony.  Now,  this  is  not  merely  a  conjecture  ;  but  it  is 
the  assertion  of  our  Lord  himself,  where  he  says,  in  speaking 
to  the  disciples  who  were  journeying  to  Emmaus,  "  O  fools, 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have 
spoken :  ought  not  Christ  to  have  suffered  these  things,  and 
to  enter  into  his  glory  ?  And,  beginning  at  Moses,"  —  that 
is,  at  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  —  "  he 
expounded  unto  them,  in  all  the  Scriptures,  the  things  con- 
cerning himself."  And,  again,  in  the  forty-fourth  verse  of 
the  same  chapter,  "  he  said  unto  them,  These  are  the  words 
which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all 
things  must  be  fulfilled,  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses "  —  that  is,  the  Pentateuch,  the  first  five  books  — 
"  and  in  the  prophets," — the  greater  and  minor  prophets, — 
"  and  in  the  Psalms,"  —  and  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and 
all  the  other  books  of  the  Bible,  —  "  concerning  me."  Here, 
then,  is  our  blessed  Lord  asserting  that  every  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  is  full  of  him.  "  Moses,"  he  says, 
in  one  of  the  Gospels,  "  wrote  of  me."  Now,  where  did 
Moses  write  of  Christ?  The  name  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth," 
the  name  "  Christ,"  the  name  even  of  "  Messiah,"  does  not 
occur  in  one  of  the  five  books  of  Moses.  How,  then,  can  it 
be  said  that  Moses  wrote  of  Christ?  I  answer,  he  wrote  of 
him  by  character,  not  by  name  ;  in  the  same  way  as  the 
epistles  are  addressed  to  us  as  characters,  but  not  addressed 
to  us  as  to  so  many  names.  The  fact  is,  that  the  syllables 
and  letters  of  Christ's  glorious  name  are  strewed  like  stars 
on  the  firmament ;  and  when  the  Great  Sun  of  Pighteous- 
ness  has  arisen  with  healing  on  his  wings,  they  are  lost  sight 
of  in  the  brightness  of  the  perfect  day.  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  but  right  to  notice,  that  all  that  is  in  the  Old  Testament 
economy  of  shadow  and  of  type  is  not  yet  fully  revealed.    I 


TABERNACLE    FURNITURE.  249 

believe  that  we  are  at  this  moment  but  in  tlic  l\viliM;l,t  ^,\'  a 
grand,  beautiful,  and  perfect  day.  It  is  truly  said,  "  Wc 
see  through  a  glass  darkly  ;"  but  "then,"  says  the  apo.-tk', 
"  we  shall  see  face  to  face,  even  as  we  are  seen."  The  lact 
is,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  has  risen  above  the  horizon, 
but  his  beams  are  yet  horizontal ;  and  you  know,  that  when 
the  sun  shines  horizontally,  or  is  touching  the  edge  of  the 
horizon,  he  appears  larger,  but  his  beams  are  dim,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  dim  and  murky  atmosphere.  The  Sun  of 
Righteousness  at  this  moment  is  just  above  the  horizon  ;  his 
beams  are  slanting,  horizontal;  but  wiien  the  millemnum 
begins,  his  beams  will  no  more  be  horizontal,  Ijut  vertical; 
and  in  that  clearest  light  we  shall  see  all  things  clearly ;  we 
shall  see  him,  not  refracted  and  distorted  by  the  atmosphere 
through  which  his  light  now  shines,  but  we  shall  see  hiiu  as 
he  is,  and  we  shall  be  like  him. 

Thus  every  thing  in  the  Old  Testament  economy  is  typi- 
cal ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  asserted  to  be  so  by  Paul,  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  He  says,  in  the  eighth  chapter,  at 
the  beginning,  "•  Now  of  the  things  which  we  have  sfuiken 
this  is  the  sum  :  We  have  such  an  high-priest,  who  is  set  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens  ;  a  minister  of 
the  sanctuary,  and  of  the  true  tabernacle,  wliich  the  Lord 
pitched,  and  not  man.  For  every  high-priest  is  ordained  to 
offer  gifts  and  sacrifices  :  whereibre  it  is  of  necessity  that 
this  man  have  somewhat  also  to  offer.  For,  if  he  were  on 
earth,  he  should  not  be  a  priest,  seeing  that  there  are  priests 
that  offer  gifts  according  to  the  law :  who  serve  unto  the 
example  and  shadow  of  heavenly  things,  as  ]Moses  was  ad- 
monished of  God  when  he  was  about  to  make  the  taber- 
nacle :  for.  See,  sailh  he,  that  thou  make  all  things  accord- 
ing to  the  pattern  showed  to  thee  in  the  mount."  And  so, 
he  alludes  to  it  in  the  Uth  chai)ter,  in  the  twenty-lirst  verse; 
"Moreover  he  sprinkled  willi  blood  both  the  tabernacle, 
and  all  the  vessels  of  the  ministry.     And  almost  all  things 


250  SCRirTUEE    HEADINGS. 

are  by  the  law  purged  with  blood ;  and  without  shedding  of 
blood  is  no  remission.  It  was  therefore  necessary  that  the 
patterns  of  things  in  the  heavens  should  be  purified  with 
these;  but  the  heavenly  things  themselves"  —  in  themselves 
unseen,  but  of  which  this  tabernacle  was  the  pattern  — 
"  with  better  sacrifices  "  —  that  is,  Christ's  sacrilice —  "  than 
these." 

Now,  this  tabernacle,  it  is  plain,  was  not  merely  an  arbi- 
trary arrangement ;  but  all  Scripture  leads  us  to  suppose 
that  it  was  a  dark,  dim  outline  of  some  more  magnificent 
and  glorious  original.  It  is  very  important  that  we  should 
always  bear  in  mind,  in  looking  at  things  that  are  recorded 
in  Scripture,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  uses  what  is  in  this  world 
to  illustrate  heavenly  things.  Some  seem  to  think  that 
things  seen  are  the  original,  and  things  unseen  the  copy ; 
but  the  fact  is,  that  the  original  of  all  that  is  below  is  in 
heaven ;  and  every  good  that  is  on  earth  is  a  dim  copy  of 
the  original  in  heaven.  It  seems  to  me  plain,  that  this 
tabernacle,  so  minutely  laid  down,  its  sj)ecifications  so  ex- 
press —  descending  to  the  very  least,  and  embracing  the 
very  highest  —  is  a  copy  upon  earth  —  imperfect,  dim,  and 
dark,  if  you  will  —  of  some  magnificent  original  that  is  in 
heaven,  and  that  is  to  become  actual  and  visible  to  us  on 
this  very  earth.  You  will  find  that  the  whole  book  of  the 
Apocalypse  describes  a  future  that  is  to  be  upon  this  world ; 
I  believe  that  this  earth  is  to  be  heaven,  and  that  this  world 
will  receive  a  glory,  and  a  beauty,  and  a  perfection  that  eye 
hath  not  seen,  and  ear  hath  not  heard,  and  the  heart  of  man 
hath  not  conceived.  And  I  have  often  said  to  you  what 
I  think  it  is  very  important  to  remember,  —  that  there  is 
nothing  sinful  in  a  stone,  nothing  wicked  in  a  beautiful 
flower ;  there  is  nothing  impure  in  the  bright  stars  that  look 
down  upon  us,  like  the  very  eyes  of  Omniscience  ;  there  is 
nothing  bad  in  a  magnilicent  landscape.  I  have  often  said, 
what  I  have  often  felt,  that  I  could  select  spots,  in  which,  if 


T  A  r>  E 11 N  A  C  L  !•:    F IJ 11 X I T  U  K  K .  2  ')  I 

you  could  keep  out  the  frosts  of  winter,  and  sickness,  and 
death  —  in  other  words,  if  sin  were  extirpated  —  1  could 
wish  to  be  there  for  ever  and  ever.  There  is  no  cause, 
therefore,  to  suppose  that  heaven  is  to  be,  wluit  many  peo- 
ple dream,  a  sort  of  transcendental,  aeriform,  etherealized 
place,  where  we  are  to  live  in  some  state  they  know  not 
what,  and  they  know  not  how  ;  but  Ave  are  to  be  raised  from 
the  dead  —  these  very  bodies  shall  be  raised  —  these  very 
bodies,  with  resurrection  beauty,  and  glory,  and  perfection  ; 
and  I  believe  that  on  this  earth,  therefore,  there  will  be  en- 
joyed everlasting  heaven.  Why  should  the  devil  get  this 
world?  What  right  has  he  to  it?  It  is  too  beautifid  a 
world  to  be  given  over  to  him  :  it  is  too  magnificent  a  thing 
to  be  abandoned,  a  wreck  on  the  eternal  sea.  And  why 
should  it  be  abandoned?  It  only  needs  sin  —  tiie  fever 
that  racks  and  convulses  —  to  be  expunged ;  it  only  wants 
the  consecrating  tread  of  creation's  Redeemer,  and  its 
deserts  W'ill  rejoice,  and  its  solitary  places  will  blossom  like 
the  rose.  And  in  every  thing  in  the  world,  one  can  see  that 
there  are  hidden  in  this  world  possibilities  that  man,  by  art, 
is  constantly  developing :  for  instance,  who  would  think  that 
the  roses  that  are  now  so  beautiful,  and  that  are  to  be  seen 
at  our  horticultural  show's,  are  all  the  results  of  man's  art, 
bringing  a  very  poor  and  paltry  thing  to  that  perfection? 
Why,  all  the  different  sorts  of  roses  are  the  results  from  the 
wild  hedge  rose,  a  very  worthless  and  paltry  tiling.  And 
what  is  this?  It  is  God  giving  man  glimpses  of  the  glori- 
ous secrets  that  are  below ;  it  is  God  telling  man  what  the 
first  paradise  was,  what  possibilities  of  a  better  paradise 
there  are  in  the  earth ;  and  that,  when  sin  is  taken  away, 
and  Jesus  has  consecrated  creation,  then  all  its  hidden  and 
latent  possibilities  will  burst  forth  ;  and  this  earth,  at  j)resent 
the  saddest,  wdll  become  the  most  beautiful  and  glorious  of 
all  the  orbs  in  the  universe. 

I  notice,  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  a  constant  allusion  to 


252  SCKII'TURE    READINGS. 

a  tabernacle  of  which  this  one  in  Exodus  was  the  copy. 
For  instance,  in  the  twenty-first  chapter  we  read,  "  I  saw  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth."  He  does  not  say,  "  I  saw 
another  heaven  and  another  earth;"  but,  "I  saw  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth ;  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first 
earth  were  passed  away,  and  there  was  no  more  sea.  And 
I,  John,  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem;  coming  down 
from  God"  —  a  descent  —  "out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband  "  —  evidently,  the  company 
of  God's  people,  as  I  might  show,  if  I  had  time  ;  —  "  and  I 
heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven,  saying,"  —  what?  — 
"  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will 
dwell  with  them,"  as  the  shechinah,  the  bright  glory  that 
shone  between  the  cherubim  on  the  mercy-seat.  This  word 
is  derived  from  a  word  which  means  "  to  dwell ; "  and, 
therefore,  is  the  glory  which  dwelt  between  the  cherubim. 
And  he  says,  "And  he  will  be  the  shechinah  in  the  temple;" 
"  he  will  be  the  glory  ; "  or,  "  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and 
they  shall  be  his  people  ;  and  God  himself  shall  be  with 
them,  and  be  their  God,"  —  not  we  taken  to  him,  but  he 
will  come  to  us.  And  then  how  beautiful  is  the  next  sen- 
tence !  The  poet  Burns,  who  showed  many  exquisite  traits 
of  the  human  heart,  though  stained  and  marred  by  many 
sins,  said  he  never  could  read  what  follows  without  weeping. 
It  is  exquisitely  beautiful:  "And  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  sliall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain  :  for  tiie  former  things  are  passed  away."  Such  will 
be  the  results  when,  not  the  copy  which  was  in  the  desert, 
built  by  Moses  after  a  pattern,  but  the  original  itself  shall 
be  with  man,  and  God  himself  shall  dwell  among  them.  In 
this  chapter  he  describes  this  tabernacle,  when  he  says, 
"And  he  carried  me  away  in  the  spirit  to  a  great  and  high 
mountain,  and  showed  me  that  great  city,  the  holy  Jerusa- 
lem, descending  out  of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory 


TABERNACLE    FURMTUUi:.  2o3 

of  God,  and  her  light  was  like  unto  a  stone  most  ])r('ri()iis, 
even  like  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal."  And  in  the 
twenty-second  verse  there  is  a  very  tine  statement  made : 
"And  I  saw  no  temple,  no  vaog,  i.  e.  no  chancel,  therein." 
I  never  understood  the  full  meaning  of  that  till  the  other 
day,  when  looking  at  the  words  that  are  employed.  In  the 
tabernacle  there  was  a  distinction.  There  was  what  was 
called  the  outer  place,  into  which  the  priests  might  enter; 
and  there  was  the  holy  of  holies,  into  which  the  high-priest 
alone  might  enter  once  a  year.  Now  in  some  countries  of 
Europe,  they  have  a  very  foolish,  and  a  very  unscrij)tural, 
notion  in  practice;  they  have  the  nave,  which  is  meant  to 
be  for  the  profane  multitude;  and  they  have  beyond  the 
rood  screen,  the  altar-place,  as  it  is  absurdly  called,  into 
which  the  priests  alone  can  enter.  And  even  in  some  pro- 
fessedly Protestant  churches,  I  am  told,  that,  if  a  lady  were 
to  approach  the  holy  place,  she  would  instantly  be  thrust 
out,  as  profaning  the  holy  of  holies,  into  which  the  priest 
alone  can  enter;  than  which  any  thing  more  trifling  or  ab- 
surd, if  not  worse,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  one  can 
scarcely  conceive.  In  the  ancient  tabernacle,  there  was  the 
holy  of  holies,  because  all  was  typical ;  but  we  are  told 
now,  that  there  is  no  holy  of  holies  —  the  veil  of  the  tem- 
ple was  rent  in  twain,  and  the  holy  of  holies  was  made  con- 
spicuous to  all.  That  was  an  end  of  chancels ;  that  was 
an  end  of  choirs ;  there  is  no  temple ;  that  is,  there  is  no 
holy  of  holies,  there  is  no  chancel  —  all  is  holy,  and  no  part 
profane.  This  is  the  idea  of  a  true  Protestant  Church;  it 
is  all  choir,  all  chancel,  there  should  be  no  nave  at  all ;  the 
whole  sanctuary  is  the  holy  place ;  the  nave  is  done  away ; 
the  whole  congregation  constitute  the  chancel.  And  why? 
Because  you  are  all  priests.  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made 
us  kings  and  priests."  And  the  apostle,  speaking  to  the 
laity,  says ;  "  Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priest- 
22 


254  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

hood."  And  being  all  priests,  we  have  all  an  equal  right  to 
the  holiest  place.  We  are  not  all  pastors,  not  all  bishops ; 
but  wc  are  all  equally  priests ;  and  a  minister  is  not  one 
whit  more  a  priest  than  the  humblest  layman  in  the  congre- 
gation ;  a  pastor  is  your  servant  for  Christ's  sake,  and  no 
more.  Well,  then,  in  that  better  tabernacle,  the  vaoq,  or 
holy  of  holies,  will  be  done  away  with,  and  "  the  tabernacle 
of  God  "  —  the  grand  original  —  shall  be  with  men.  And 
then  he  says,  "  The  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of 
the  moon."  Mark  the  allusion  there  to  the  candlestick  with 
its  seven  branches ;  there  was  no  window  in  the  tabernacle, 
there  was,  naturally,  darkness.  The  seven  candles  gave 
the  only  light  that  was  there,  as  if  to  indicate  the  dim  na- 
ture of  that  dispensation.  But  when  the  grand  original 
itself  comes  from  heaven,  then  there  will  be  no  need  of  a 
candle,  no  need  even  of  the  sun.  Why  ?  Because  there 
will  be  a  moral  light  still  more  glorious  than  any  material 
light;  and  in  this  light  all  others  shall  become  dim  and  go 
out ;  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  shall  be  the 
light  thereof.  And,  as  if  to  show  more  plainly  that  it  is  on 
earth,  it  is  added :  "And  the  nations  of  them  that  are  saved 
shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it." 

We  thus  see,  throughout  the  whole  Scripture,  a  constant 
allusion  to  some  grand  architectural  original.  And  why 
should  we  not  anticipate  it  ?  I  do  not  see  any  reason  why 
that  beautiful  description  of  the  city,  that  lies  "  four-square," 
should  not  be  realized  on  earth.  It  seems  to  me  probable 
that  Jerusalem  —  now  trodden  ^  down  by  the  Moslem,  the 
Mahometan,  and  the  monk,  and  the  scene  of  quarrels  — 
will  yet  be  the  metropolis  of  the  world.  And  it  is  very 
striking  to  notice  how  all  quarrels  seem  verging  in  that 
direction.  Tlie  reason,  at  this  present  moment,  why  all 
Europe  is  showing  itself  to  be  —  what  one  has  often  felt  — 
a  perfect  volcano,  has  originated  about  something  in  Jeru- 
salem.    And  the  probability  is  —  though  far  be  it  from  me 


TABERNACLE    FUKNITURK.  255 

to  prophesy,  I  «'ira  only  to  int(.n-prct  propliecy,  —  thu  prol)a- 
bility,  I  say,  is  that  the  hist  conflict,  approaching  every  day, 
will  be  in  Palestine ;  and  when  its  din  and  its  smoke  have 
cleared  away,  there  will  be  seen  descending,  like  a  bride 
adorned  for  the  bridegroom,  tlic  true  tabernacle,  that  has  no 
need  of  the  seven  candlesticks,  that  has  no  chancel ;  but  in 
which  God's  priests  shall  assemble,  and  the  very  voices  that 
once  cried,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him  !  "  shall  yet  sing  and 
shout^  "  riosannah !  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord." 

Such,  then,  are  the  scattered  indications  of  the  tabernacle 
which  arc  recorded  in  tlie  Word  of  God,  and  which  show 
that  it  w^as  a  copy  of  a  great  original. 

Let  me  now  turn  your  attention  to  some  of  the  furniture 
that  was  in  the  tabernacle,  as  being  most  instructive  in  it3 
nature,  and  calculated  to  show  that  every  thing  in  God's 
Word  has  meaning,  and  instruction,  and  profit. 

Now,  the  very  first  thing,  though  not  given  first  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  apostle,  inside  the  tabernacle,  and  in  the 
holy  of  holies,  was  the  ark.  Many  have  imagined  that 
Noah's  ship,  which  was  called  an  ark,  and  this  ark  here 
described,  have  one  common  name.  But  in  the  original 
Hebrew  the  words  are  quite"  distinct ;  the  Hebrew  for  Noah's 
ark  is  TJieha  and  the  Hebrew  for  this  ark  in  the  tabernacle 
is  Aaron  ;  and  they  are  quite  distinct  in  meaning,  as,  indeed, 
in  use.  This  ark  seems  to  have  been  among  the  Jews  the 
holiest  symbol  that  they  had.  And  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that 
there  is  scarcely  a  nation  in  the  world  that  has  not  a  tra- 
dition of  something  of  this  kind.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  evidences  of  the  truth  of  the  Pentateuch,  that  all 
its  great  facts  are  distorted  indeed,  but  still  exist  at  this 
present  moment,  among  almost  all  tiie  nations  of  tiie  earth. 
For  instance,  the  Egyptians,  as  you  will  liiul  from  tlie 
monuments  that  have  been  gathered  from  Egypt,  cariitnl  m 
their   processions    a   sarcophagus,  or   a   sacred    chest ;  the 


256  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Greeks,  as  every  school-boy  will  recollect,  had  their  sacred 
Palladium  ;  and  the  Romans,  if  they  had  not  their  ark,  had 
their  penetralia.  Now,  what  is  all  this  ?  Just  the  traditional 
remains  of  a  grand  truth,  evidences  that  the  writing  of 
Moses  is  true  ;  and  proofs,  too,  how  distorting  a  medium  is 
tradition,  when  a  great  truth  is  set  afloat  upon  the  opinions 
and  traditions  of  men. 

This  ark  was  made  of  wood,  called  in  the  Septuagint, 
"  incorruptible  wood  ;  "  it  was  of  the  hardest  and  most  du- 
rable description,  something  of  the  nature  of  cedar.  And 
the  reason  why  it  was  incorruptible  was  probably  in  refer- 
ence to  its  typical  import ;  because  the  ark  is  constantly 
alluded  to  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  in  the  Epistles,  as  I  shall 
show  by  and  by,  as  the  great  type  or  symbol  of  our  blessed 
Lord.  For  instance,  the  apostle  says,  in  Romans  iii.  25, 
after  describing  that  by  deeds  of  law  no  flesh  can  be  justified, 
and  showing  the  righteousness  by  which  we  shall  be  justified 

—  "Whom  God"  —  "whom"  refers  to  Christ  —  "whom 
God  has  set  forth  to  be  a  mcrcij-seat"  —  rendered  in  our 
translation,  "  a  propitiation."  And  again,  in  Revelation  xi. 
2,9,  we  read,  "And  the  temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven, 
and  there  was  seen  in  his  temple  the  ark  of  his  testament ; " 

—  now,  that  is  identified  in  other  parts  with  Christ  himself. 
There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  this  ark  was  intended  to 
be  the  type  of  the  coming  Messiah,  and  was  meant  to  teach 
that  by  shadow  which  we  know  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

And  now,  what  was  in  this  ark  ?  There  were  placed  in 
it,  first  of  all,  the  two  tables  of  the  law.  The  first  tables,  you 
remember,  were  broken  when  Moses  dropped  them,  and  two 
other  tables  were  prepared,  and  placed  inside  this  ark  ;  and 
there  they  were  kept  till  they  were  lost  at  the  captivity,  after 
which  the  glory  departed  from  Israel.  What  was  the  mean- 
ing of  this,  that  the  two  tables  of  the  law  were  placed  inside 
the  ark,  over  which  was  the  mercy-seat,  and  the  glory  that 
shone  between  the  cherubim,  the  symbol  of  Christ  ?     Just 


TABERXACLE    FURNITURE.  257 

this,  that  in  the  Gospel  the  law  is  not  diluted,  it  is  not  pasx-d 
away,  it  is  not  to  be  trodden  under;  it  remains  wiili  all  its 
exactions  now  as  it  did  once  ;  and  before  a  single  soul  can 
get  to  heaven,  it  must  have  a  perfect  righteousness.  It  is 
just  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  on  Sinai,  —  as  it  was  in  Para- 
dise, —  that  without^  perfect  righteousness,  that  is,  perl"ect 
conformity  in  thought,  word,  and  deed  to  God's  holy  law, 
there  is  no  admission  into  heaven.  Adam  tried  to  perform 
a  righteousness  by  personally  obeying,  and  he  failed  in  the 
grand  experiment ;  we  have  not  to  perform  a  righteousness 
in  order  to  be  admitted  to  heaven  by  it,  but  it  has  been  per- 
formed for  us  in  Christ ;  so  that  we  are  admitted  into  heaven 
not  by  ourselves  personally  obeying  the  law,  but  by  our  trust 
in  One  who  obeyed  the  law  for  us  in  our  stead.  This  law 
remains  in  all  its  perfection  now,  just  as  it  subsisted  in  the 
ark  then  ;  only  its  thunders  are  hushed,  its  lightnings  are 
laid  ;  it  is  no  more  an  enemy,  it  is  in  Christ  with  us  ;  and 
therefore  there  is  no  condemnation  from  the  law  to  them 
that  are  in  Christ  Jesus;  for  what  the  law  could  not  do  in 
that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God  hath  done  by  send- 
ing Jesus  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  to  be  the  propi- 
tiatory or  the  mercy-seat  for  us. 

In  the  second  place,  we  read  that  on  the  top  of  this  ark, 
"which  was  two  cubits  and  a  half  in  length  —  that  is,  as- 
suming a  cubit  to  be  eighteen  inches,  it  would  be  three  feet 
nine  inches,  or  somewhere  under  four  feet  —  this  ark  had 
over  it  a  "  mercy-seat,"  as  it  was  called,  or  a  lid,  tiuit  was 
made  of  pure  beaten  gold,  and  that  was  sprinkled  with  blood 
—  the  idea  of  atonement  —  and  hence  it  was  called  the 
"  propitiatory,"  or  "  mercy-seat."  Over  it  was  the  shechinahy 
or  the  visible  presence  of  God  himself.  The  lid,  therefore, 
or  the  mercy-seat,  with  God's  glory  over  it,  is,  translated 
into  New  Testament  language,  God  in  Christ  reconciling 
the  world  unto  himself.  When  the  Jew  needed  mercy,  his 
priest  had  to  go  for  him  to  the  mercy-seat ;  when  the  sinner 
22* 


258  scRirxuRE  headings. 

needed  pardon,  his  priest  had  to  go  for  him  to  the  mercy- 
seat.  ]S-ovv,  the  veil  is  rent ;  the  high-priest  is  the  propi- 
tiatory too,  and  every  Christian,  every  behever,  has  access 
to  God  in  Christ  —  the  mercy-seat  where  he  may  obtain 
mercy  to  forgive  him,  and  grace  to  help  him  in  the  time  of 
need.  How  beautiful  and  encouraging#s  this  thought,  that 
every  Christian  now,  without  proxy,  without  representative, 
may  go  to  God  in  Christ  by  prayer,  and  may  seek,  what  he 
is  certain  to  obtain,  mercy  from  God,  who  is  throned  on  the 
mercy-seat !  It  is  now  proper  in  God  to  pardon ;  I  may 
expect  God  to  give  me,  a  sinner,  mercy,  just  as  much  as  I 
may  expect  that  the  waves  of  the  ocean  shall  roll,  or  that 
the  sun  shall  shine.  No  Israelite  ever  asked  his  priest  to 
intercede  for  him,  and  was  refused  ;  every  sinner  in  broad 
Christendom,  who  is  now  in  the  presence  of  the  mercy-seat 
—  for  the  veil  is  rent,  the  holy  place  is  now  universal  — 
may,  by  asking,  obtain  forgiveness,  without  money  and  with- 
out price.  Is  it  not  a  very  sad  thought,  that  persons  perish 
just  because  they  will  not  humble  themselves  to  ask  salva- 
tion ?  It  is  one  of  the  most  simple,  and  yet,  strange  to  say, 
•the  least  believed,  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  that  all  heaven 
may  be  had  for  asking,  that  all  glory  is  given  gratis ;  and 
God  has  more  glory  and  delight  in  giving,  than  ever  we  can 
feel  in  asking,  or  even  in  obtaining. 

Let  me  notice  another  feature  in  the  mercy-seat.  God 
always  gave  answers  to  the  people  from  the  mercy-seat. 
Thus,  we  read  in  Numbers  vii.  89,  "And  when  Moses  was 
gone  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregration  to  speak  with 
him,  then  he  heard  the  voice  of  one  speaking  unto  him  from 
off  the  mercy-seat,  that  was  upon  the  ark  of  testimony, 
from  between  the  two  cherubims :  and  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses."  Here,  then,  we  have  the  mercy-seat,  the  place 
from  which  God  speaks  to  us,  where  God  hears  us  speak  to 
him  ;  it  is  the  place  where  God  still  speaks  to  us.  But  how 
docs   he  speak  to  us  ?     God  can  speak  to  you,  and   to  me, 


TABEKXACLE    FURNITURE.  259 

and  to  all  at  once,  with  infinitely  more  ease  than  I  can  speak 
to  you.  I  can  speak  only  to  tlie  outward  ears  ;  God  speaks 
to  the  inner  heart.  If,  then,  I  go  to  the  mercy-seat —  if  I 
go  to  God  in  Christ  as  my  Father, —and  ask  him  for 
guidance,  I  am  perfectly  sure  that  he  will  give  it.  He  will 
give  it  in  his  providence,  where  something  will  appear  which 
tells  that  you  must  not  go  this  way;  or  some  obstruction  will 
start  up,  which  will  prevent  you  from  doing  what  would 
have  ruined  you  for  ever.  God  still,  in  answer  to  your 
prayer,  leads  the  blind  in  a  way  that  they  know  not ;  or,  at 
other  times,  if  he  do  not  restrain  you  by  his  providence,  he 
will  call  up  to  memory  a  text  that  had  become  almost  oblit- 
erated ;  and  that  text  will  be  a  lamp  to  your  feet,  and  a  light 
to  your  path  ;  or  his  Holy  Spirit,  whom  God  gives  to  them 
that  ask  him  in  Christ's  name,  will  speak  —  silently,  but 
effectually  —  truly,  though  not  audibly  —  to  the  innermost 
heart,  and  will  direct  and  guide  you  in  the  way  that  will  be 
for  your  good,  and  for  God's  everlasting  glory. 

Then  notice,  in  the  next  place  —  though  I  can  only  briefly 
allude  to  it,  —  that  over  the  mercy-seat  there  wore  the 
cherubim.  These  were  two  human  forms,  as  is  supposed, 
the  tips  of  whose  wings  touched  each  other,  while  their  faces 
looked  down  upon  the  mercy-seat ;  and  between  these 
cherubim,  upon  the  golden  lid,  there  shone  an  intense  and 
brilliant  light,  or  glory,  which  was  the  token  of  the  presence 
of  God. 

The  best  sketches  I  have  seen  of  this  are  by  Bagster,  in 
Ills  very  proper  and  very  good  engravings,  representing  the 
form  of  the  tabernacle.  It  is  very  beautiful,  and  most  care- 
fully and  accurately  done.  The  cherubim  are  given  there, 
and  very  well  represented.  Well,  these  cherubim  were 
human  forms,  that  looked  down  u[)on  the  mercy-seat  ;  and 
the  only  allusion  to  them,  that  I  know  of,  are  Peter's  words: 
"Into  which  things"  —  speaking  of  the  atonemml  —  "  tiie 
angels  desire  to  look."     Such  passages  as  these,  throughout 


260  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

the  Avliole  Bible,  show  that  there  is  an  intimate  communion 
between  saints  in  heaven  and  saints  that  are  upon  earth. 
That  does  not  authorize  the  monstrous  dogma,  that  you  are 
to  worship  them ;  because  angels  minister  to  us,  we  are  not, 
therefore,  to  ofier  adoration  to  them  ;  that  is  quite  a  different 
thing.  Still,  the  angels,  as  ministering  spirits,  are  interested 
in  the  atonement ;  and  I  know  no  benevolence  so  pure  and 
beautiful  as  what  may  be  called  unselfish  benevolence, — 
taking  a  deep  interest  in  what  does  good  exclusively  to 
others.  And  one  can  imagine  nothing  more  beautiful  than 
that  angels  regard  Calvary  as  the  most  sublime  and  in- 
exhaustible lesson  book  that  was  ever  written;  and  look, 
and  wait  to  hear  of  a  soul's  conversion,  and  ever,  as  they 
hear  of  one  sinner  that  repents,  there  is  joy  among  the 
angels  that  are  in  heaven.  And  the  cherubim,  therefore, 
looking  on  the  mercy-seat,  may  be  meant  to  show  the  con- 
nection that  there  is  between  heaven  and  earth,  and  the 
interest  that  angels  feel  in  the  transactions  that  are  taking 
place  in  this  present  world. 

Next,  there  was  the  glory  that  shone  upon  the  lid,  or  the 
glory  that  shone  between  the  cherubim.  The  shechinah,  or 
glory,  was  the  visible  presence  of  God  himself.  And  God 
in  Christ  is  still  where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  his 
name.  The  propitiatory  of  Israel  was  local ;  our  mercy- 
seat  is  here,  is  there,  is  everywhere.  Every  congregation  has 
its  own  mercy-seat ;  and  yet,  all  congregations  have  but  one 
mercy -seat  —  that  is,  Christ ;  and,  therefore,  when  we  pray, 
we  are  not  to  turn  east,  or  west,  or  north,  or  south ;  but  we 
are  to  turn  our  hearts  to  Christ,  the  mercy-seat.  What  a 
beautiful  religion  is  Protestant  and  spiritual  Christianity ! 
IIow  trilling,  poor,  and  paltry,  is  that  form  of  it  that  is 
neither  Romanism  nor  Protestantism,  recently  imported 
from  abroad,  that  spoils  both  Popery  and  Protestantism ! 
Our  religion  tells  us  of  the  blessed  truth,  that,  wherever  two 
or  three   believers   meet   in    the  name  of  Jesus,  and  ask 


TABERNACLE  FUllMTURE.  261 

general  mercies,  and  praise  liim  for  general  blessings,  there 
is  the  mercy-seat.  There  are  answers  ;  there  is  forgiveness ; 
there  is  the  shecliinah  —  the  glory  of  God  himself. 

We  read,  in  the  next  place,  of  this  ark  —  on  which  I 
cannot  comment  further  —  that  it  wrought  many  and  won- 
derful miracles.  AVe  read  also,  that  this  ark  was  regarded 
in  Israel  as  its  great  and  its  chiefest  glory.  Some  of  the 
allusions  to  it  are  very  touching.  There  is  one  in  1  Samuel 
iv.,  which  I  would  particularly  direct  your  attention  to,  as 
showing  us  how  precious  the  ark  of  God  was  held  to  be. 
We  read,  in  the  tenth  verse,  "And  the  Philistines  fought, 
and  Israel  was  smitten,  and  they  fled  every  man  into  his 
tent :  and  there  was  a  very  great  slaughter  ;  for  there  fell 
of  Israel  thirty  thousand  footmen.  And  the  ark  of  God 
was  taken  ; "  —  this  ark  of  which  we  are  speaking  ;  —  "  and 
the  two  sons  of  Eli,  Hophni,  and  Phinehas,  were  slain. 
And  there  ran  a  man  of  Benjamin  out  of  the  army,  and 
came  to  Shiloh  the  same  day  with  his  clothes  rent,  and  with 
earth  upon  his  head.  And  when  he  came,  lo,  Eli "  —  then 
a  venerable  priest  —  "sat  upon  a  seat  by  the  way-side, 
watching."  Now,  Avhat  was  his  thought?  ''For  his  heart 
trembled"  —  not  for  the  destiny  of  his  nation,  not  for  the 
fear  of  the  victory  of  the  Philistine ;  but  the  old  man's 
heart  was  where  an  old  man's  heart  should  be  —  at  the 
mercy-seat ;  "  for  his  heart  trembled  ibr  the  ark  of  God. 
And  when  the  man  came  into  the  city,  and  told  it,  all  the 
city  cried  out.  And  when  P^li  heard  the  noise  of  the  cry- 
iniT,  he  said.  What  meaneth  the  noise  of  this  tumult  ?  And 
the  man  came  in  hastily,  and  told  Eli.  Now  Eli  was  nin.-ty 
and  eight  years  old ;  and  his  eyes  were  dim,  that  he  could 
not  see.  And  the  man  said  unto  Eli,  I  am  he  that  came 
out  of  the  army,  and  I  fled  out  of  the  army.  And  he  said, 
What  is  there  done,  my  son  ?  And  the  messenger  answered 
and  said,  Israel  is  fled  before  the  Philistines  ;"  — Eli  says 
nothing  to  that  —  "and  there  hath  been  also  a  great  slaugh- 


262  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ter  among  the  people  ;  "  —  he  says  nothing  to  that ;  he  was 
a  patriot,  yet  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  overwhehned 
with  sorrow  when  he  heard  that  his  country  was  conquered; 
he  was  a  man,  and  yet  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  his 
heart  broken  when  he  heard  that  there  was  a  great  slaughter 
among  the  people  ;  —  "  and  thy  two  sons  also,  Hophni  and 
Phinehas,  are  dead,"  —  he  was  a  father,  and  yet  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  much  affected  by  that ;  and  the  mes- 
senger added,  "  and  the  ark  of  God  is  taken  !  "  Now,  mark 
what  follows.  "  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  made  men- 
tion of  the  ark  of  God,  that  he  fell  from  off  the  seat  back- 
ward by  the  side  of  the  gate,  and  his  neck  brake,  and  lie 
died  ;  for  he  was  an  old  man,  and  heavy  ;  and  he  had  judged 
Israel  forty  years."  You  observe  that  he  could  bear  the 
destruction  of  his  country,  and  the  slaughter  of  his  country- 
men, the  death  even  of  his  two  sons ;  but  so  did  that  man's 
heart  cling  to  that  which  was  the  symbol  of  the  glory  and 
the  presence  of  the  God  of  Israel,  that  when  the  loss  of 
that  was  mentioned  to  him,  he  fell,  his  heart  burst,  "  his 
neck  brake,  and  he  died."  And  there  is  another  instance, 
'scarcely  less  touching  than  that,  which  we  read  of  directly 
afterwards.  "And  his  daughter-in-law,  Phinehas'  wife,  was 
with  child,  near  to  be  delivered :  and  when  she  heard  the 
tidings  that  the  ark  of  God  was  taken,  and  that  her  father- 
in-law  and  her  husband  were  dead,  she  bowed  herself,  and 
travailed  ;  for  her  pains  came  upon  her.  And  about  the 
time  of  her  death,  the  women  that  stood  by  her  said  unto 
her.  Fear  not ;  for  thou  hast  born  a  son,"  —  the  greatest  joy 
of  an  Israelite  mother  —  "fear  not;  for  thou  hast  born  a 
son.  But "  —  the  first  time  that  it  had  ever  occurred  in 
Israel  — "  she  answered  not,  neither  did  she  regard  it." 
And  then  it  is  added :  "  She  named  the  child  I-chabod,  say- 
ing, The  glory  is  departed  from  Israel :  because  the  ark  of 
God  was  taken."  Can  you  have  a  more  striking  repre- 
sentation of  the  interest  felt  by  the  Israelites  in  the  ark  of 


TABERNACLE    FURNITURE.  203 

God?  And,  my  dear  friends,  do  wo  thus  love  Christ? 
Does  he  hoki  this  place  in  our  hearts?  Mothers  in  Israel, 
have  you  left  father  and  mother,  and  sister  and  brother, 
and  son  and  daughter,  as  no  relations  in  comparison  with 
him?  They  were  in  a  dark  dispensation,  —  we  are  in  a 
bright  one ;  they  saw  but  a  glimpse  of  the  Kedeemcr's 
glory  as  he  passed  by ;  Jesus  Christ  has  been  set  iorlli, 
preached  before  ns.  Do  we  trust  him  ?  Are  we  seeking 
happiness  through  him  ?  Are  we  altered  by  the  fact,  tiiat 
he  has  suffered  and  died  for  us  on  the  cross  ?  Is  religion 
any  thing  to  us  but  creed,  and  ceremony,  and  name,  and 
habit ;  or  is  it  life,  power,  light,  guidance  ?  And,  lastly,  let 
your  hearts  be  more  and  more  where  the  true  tabernacle 
now  is  ;  that  when  this  new  tabernacle  shall  come  down 
from  heaven,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  the  bridegroom  — 
where  no  sod  shall  be  broken  for  the  dead,  where  no  tears 
shall  be  shed  for  the  living,  where  former  things  shall  have 
passed  away,  and  there  shall  be  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  —  we  may  be  forever 
in  that  happy  home  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

MOSES    TAKRIES    IN    THE   MOUNT.      THE  ISRAELITES  SEEK   AN   IMAGE 

OF  GOD.     Aaron's  proposal,      the  golden  calf,     images 

AND  idols.  drunkenness  AND  PAGAN  RITES.  LANGUAGE. 
REPENTANCE.  GOD'S  FINGER.  BROKEN  TABLET.  AAROn'S 
apology.       PUNISHMENT. 

I  THINK  the  chapter  we  have  read  records  one  of  the 
most  humiliating  incidents  in  that  chequered  and  instructive 
history  which  Ave  have  been  perusing  from  Sabbath  to  Sab- 
bath. Here  is  a  people  brought  forth  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  their  prison  house,  amidst  special  mercies,  before 
whom  God's  omnipotence  had  moved  to  open  a  pathway 
through  the  deep,  to  rain  down  bread  from  heaven  to  satisfy 
their  wants,  to  guide  and  to  comfort  them  in  their  way ;  and' 
yet  this  people,  thus  crowned  with  loving-kindnesses  and 
with  tender  mercies,  seized  the  very  first  opportunity  of  the 
absence  and  the  apparent  delay  of  their  leader,  and  made  a 
calf  or  a  golden  image,  to  represent  the  living  and  the  true 
God,  notwithstanding  that  they  had  heard  the  law  pro- 
claimed amidst  the  thunders  and  lightnings  of  Sinai,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,"  and  in  which, 
as  in  all  the  other  commandments  of  the  Decalogue,  they 
had  expressed  their  belief,  and  to  which  they  had  declared 
their  steadfast  determination  to  adhere. 

But  let  us  see  the  greatness  of  tlie  sin  by  the  incidents 
that  are  recorded  in  the  cha[)ter. 

We  may  notice,  not  only  their  ingratitude  to  God,  but 
their  signal  ingratitude  to  Moses,  his  chosen  minister,  their 


EXODUS    XXXII.  2C.J 

kind,  their  forbearing,  and  tlicir  mn.L^ianiinons  Irad.T.  I  J,, 
had  been  forty  days  in  the  mount,  as  eommaiid.Ml  hv  (hmI, 
but  these  forty  days  were  spent,  not  in  his  own  work,  Init  in 
contact  with  Deity,  and  specially  for  (licir  l.ciiclK.  'J'lic 
words  that  these  insolent  and  nnsri-atelul  ti-ilxs  use,  arc 
"  Up,  make  us  gods  which  shall  go  before  us;  for  as  for  this 
Moses," — the  language  of  contempt — a  sneer,  —  "  th(>  man 
that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not 
what  is  become  of  him  ; "  he  may  be  dead,  if  so  we  do  not 
much  care ;  but  as  we  have  lost  him  we  must  have  some 
representation  of  Deity,  in  order  to  go  before  us.  Great 
benefactors  of  mankind  must  not  look  for  recompense  on 
earth.  It  is  your  privilege,  it  is  your  commission  to  do  tlu^ 
duty  that  devolves  upon  you  in  the  providence  of  God,  and 
to  look  for  recognition  beyond  the  grave ;  for  even  the 
world's  greatest  benefactors  have  not  received  the  homagt; 
that  they  deserved ;  we  must  not  calculate  on  it ;  and,  there- 
fore, wdiether  w^e  receive  it  or  not,  we  must  be  guided  by  a 
sincere  and  deep  sense  of  duty  and  of  obligation,  not  by 
any  prospect  and  hope  of  reward  in  this  world.  Never  was 
there  a  leader  so  kind,  so  patient,  so  forbearing,  so  devoted, 
and  yet  these  are  the  words  he  hears  from  this  ungrateful 
people,  "  This  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of  him." 

The  next,  and  painful  and  rather  a  perplexing  I'eature 
in  this  narrative  is  that  Aaron  instantly  complied  with  their 
wish.  It  has  been  supposed  that  Aaron  here  tried  a  plan 
that  is,  in  fact,  old  and  not  new,  and  that  man  constantly 
has  recourse  to,  yet  with  constant  refutation  of  its  value, 
and  always  attended  with  evil  consequences  — the  plan  of 
expediency.  It  is  supposed  that  Aaron,  when  he  heard 
them  demand  some  image  of  the  Invisible,  in  order  to  put 
them  to  the  test,  or  to  put  them  off,  or  in  order  to  make  an 
appeal  to  their  avarice  a  reason  for  getting  rid  of  the  sm 
into  which  they  were  prepared  to  plunge,  said  to  them, 
2'3 


2C6  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

"  Very  well,  then,  take  off  all  your  golden  ear-rings,  and  all 
your  valuable  jewels  —  all  that  is  precious  about  your  per- 
sons—  take  them  off;  and,  if  you  are  prepared  to  do  that, 
then  we  will  make  an  idol  from  them."  It  has  been  sup- 
posed that  he  did  not  think  they  would  do  so  —  that  he 
thought  he  could  keep  them  from  committing  a  great  sin  by 
proposing  a  way  of  accomplishing  it  that  they  would  not 
submit  to.  But  the  result  shows  that  it  is  most  dangerous 
to  tamper  with  what  is  clear  duty.  If  the  thing  was  right, 
he  ought  to  have  sanctioned  it ;  but  if  the  thing  was  wrong, 
he  ought  to  have  said  that  it  was  so ;  all  ingenious  expedi- 
ents for  trying  to  keep  men  in  the  way  of  duty  which  are 
not  straightforward  may  seem  very  plausible,  but  they  are 
never  very  prosperous. 

We  read,  that  he  received  the  ear-rings  from  them  after 
they  had  taken  them  off,  which  shows  that  their  idolatry 
overcame  their  covetousness,  and  they  were  melted  into  one 
piece,  M'hich  was  cut  or  chased  into  the  form  of  a  calf.  You 
naturally  ask  —  Why  this  strange  image,  a  calf  You  will 
recollect  that  in  Egypt  the  sacred  bull,  or  the  Apis,  was  the 
•great  object  of  the  adoration  or  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  as 
you  will  see  upon  many  of  the  remains,  and  monuments,  and 
inscriptions  of  that  country,  and  it  is  thought  that  the  Israel- 
ites carried  with  them  a  faint  recollection  of  the  idol  —  the 
sacred  bull  —  which  the  Egyptians  worshipped,  and  that 
they  made  the  nearest  approximation  to  it. 

Thus  early  evil  associations  engender  sad  memories,  and 
mingle  with  holier  feelings.  And  you  will  observe  that  tliey 
did  not  profess  to  make  a  god,  to  be  a  substitute  for  Jeho- 
vah, but  to  make  a  god  that  should  be  the  representative  of 
Jehovah  ;  ibr  the  language  that  they  used  was  —  "  These 
be  thy  gods,  O  Israel!"  The  Avord  gods  conveys  to  the 
common  reader  a  wrong  impression.  The  Hebrew  word 
for  God^  used  almost  always  in  the  original,  is  Eloliim, 
which  is  the  plural  number.     For  instance,  in  Genesis  — 


EXODUS    XXXIT.  267 

"In  the  beginning  God  created  tlie  heaven  and  the  earth  ;" 
it  is  in  the  Hebrew,  Bara  Elohlw,  Hteraily,  "  Gods  cre- 
ated ;"  only  the  verb  hara  \<  the  third  i)!'rson  singidar ;  and 
Eloldm  is  the  phiral;  being  a  nominative  {)hn-al  witii  the 
third  person  singuhir.  And  that  strange,  as  you  would  call 
it,  ungrammatical  conjunction  involves  and  teaches  a  great 
truth  —  plurality  in  the  Godhead,  and  yet  unity.  In  tiiat 
they  said,  "These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel"  —  they  meant 
"  this  IS  thy  god,  O  Israel."  And  what  confirms  this  inter- 
pretation is  the  fact  that  Aaron  himself  "  made  proclama- 
tion, and  said.  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord "  —  to 
Jehovah ;  that  is,  the  true  God  of  Israel ;  and  therefore 
they  meant  it  to  be,  not  a  substitute  for  God,  but  evidently 
a  visible  representation  of  God.  Now  the  question  is,  Was 
this  idolatry  ?  There  is  no  doubt  of  it.  If  you  o{)en  the 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  you  will  find  the  apostle  writing 
there  —  "Neither  be  ye  idolaters,  as  some  of  them;"  and 
if  you  will  read  the  judgment  here  pronounced,  you  will  see 
that  it  was  regarded  as  idolatry  by  God  himself,  and  ])un- 
ished  accordingly.  This  proves  the  fallacy  of  what  some 
have  stated  —  that  it  is  quite  right  to  have  images  of  Ciirist, 
and  of  the  Holy  Si)irit,  and  even  t)f  God  the  Father.  If 
we  say,  "  Why  do  you  worship  images  ?  "  they  answ»,'r,  "  We 
do  not  worship  idols;  these  are  not  substituted  for  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  ;  they  are  merely  representations  of 
them."  But  the  idolatry  consists  not  only  in  substituting  an 
image  for  the  true  God,  but  in  representing  the  true  God 
by  images,  which  he  hims(df  has  directly  forbidden.  And 
therefore  to  have  images  of  God  at  all  seems  most  unscrip- 
tural ;  to  worship  them,  or  rather,  to  take  the  gentlest  form 
of  it,  to  worship  God  througli  them,  is  idohilry,  disguise  it 
as  men  like. 

It  is  then  added,  that  "  they  rose  up  early  in  the  morning, 
and  offered  burnt  olferings,  and  brought  [)eace  olferings; 
and  the  people  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  rose  up  to 


268  sciiirTURE  readings. 

play."  Now,  this  shows  that  whilst  they  made  this  an  image 
of  God,  the  accompaniments  of  their  worship  were  most 
ohjectionable.  Here  \vas  just  the  heatlien  worship  ;  they 
used  to  dance  before  their  gods,  to  drink  to  excess,  to  in- 
dulge in  all  sorts  of  sensualism  ;  and  the  Israelites  did  the 
same.  And  it  is  very  remarkable  that  the  Hebrew  word 
for  '•  rose  up  to  play,"  means  properly,  "  rude  and  wanton 
play ; "  and  it  is  no  less  remarkable  also  that  the  Greek 
word  [j.edv£iv,  "to  be  drunk,"  is  connected  with  a  pagan  sacred 
origin  ;  it  comes  from  the  Avords  fiera  to  v^vecv,  which  means, 
"  after  sacrificing  to  the  gods  ; "  showing  how  completely 
drunkenness  was  associated  and  identified  with  the  worsliip 
of  an  idolatrous  people. 

The  Lord  said  to  Moses  when  this  took  place,  "  Go,  get 
thee  down ;  for  thy  people."  The  language  here  is  most 
suggestive  ;  God  says,  '•  They  are  not  my  people  now  ;  they 
liave  forsaken  me."  The  significance  in  these  words  is  very 
remarkable.  He  says  not,  "  my  peoi)le  have  done  it,"  but 
"  Moses,  thy  people,  which  thou  brougl)test  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  have  corrupted  themselves ;  they  have  given  up 
me,  they  have  gone  to  their  gods  ;  they  have  turned  aside 
quickly  out  of  the  way  which  1  commanded  them  ;  they  have 
made  them  a  molten  calf,  and  have  worshipped  it,  and  have 
sacrificed  thereunto,  and  said,  '  These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel, 
which  have  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.'  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  '  I  have  seen  this  people,  and  be- 
hold, it  is  a  stiflheeked  people ;  now  therefore  let  me 
alone;'"  do  not  pray  to  me;  as  if  prayer  had  such  iniiu- 
ence  witli  God,  that  he  bids  Moses  not  to  pray  to  him,  lest 
there  should  be  one  instance  in  the  Bible,  of  true  prayer 
not  answered  ;  "let  me  alone,  that  my  Avi-ath  may  wax  hot 
against  them,  and  that  1  may  consume  them."  But  then 
"  Moses  besought  the  Lord  his  God ; "  and  this  shows  his 
deep  sympathy  with  the  people  who  had  treated  him  with 
such  scorn ;  his  love  for  those  who  would  not  wait  for  his 


Kxonrs   xxxiT.  '2G«.) 

return  to  thorn  —  "and  said,  Lord,  wliy  dotlj  thy  wrath  wax 
hot  against  thy  people?"  —  observe  liow  Moses,  with  ex- 
quisite skill,  changes  the  }u-onoun,  and  does  not  say  my  peo- 
ple, but  he  says,  they  are  thy  people  ;  had  as  tliey  are,  they 
are  yet  that,  and  therefore  I  beseech  thee  to  have  mercy 
upon  them.  And  then  Moses  pleads  God's  glory.  "  Where- 
fore should  the  Egyptians  speak;"  as  if  to  say,  there  is 
the  result  of  going  forth  from  our  kind ;  there  is  all  that 
God  can  do  for  you ;  where  are  your  promises,  where  are 
your  prophecies,  where  are  your  miracles  now?  And  then 
he  says,  "  Remember  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel,  thy  ser- 
vants;!'  not,  as  has  been  said,  that  they  intercede  lor  us, 
but,  remember  thy  promises  made  to  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Israel  —  ''to  whom  thou  swearest  by  thine  own  selt"  — 
remember,  not  their  merits,  but  thy  })romises  to  them  ;  re- 
member, not  their  intercessions,  but  tliy  promises  respecting 
their  seed. 

"And  the  Lord  repented  of  the  evil  which  he  thought  to 
do  unto  his  people."  Does  God,  then,  change  his  mind? 
No  ;  the  word  repent  is  applied  to  God  just  as  many  other 
passions  are  ;  we  say,  for  instance,  God  is  angry  —  God  is 
grieved  —  thus  applying  human  feelings  and  human  pas-ions 
to  Deity.  The  fact  is,  there  are  not  in  our  language  words 
that  can  express  what  is  peculiar  to  Deity.  All  our  words 
are  pictures  ;  our  language,  with  all  its  i)erfections  and  all 
its  beauties,  is  after  all  but  a  series  of  a}»proximate  i)ictures 
which  convey  ideas  by  pictures,  that  the  mind,  the  imagina- 
tion, the  ear,  or  the  eye  can  comprehend.  So,  we  cannot 
define  God,  because  speech,  the  instrument  by  which  we 
define  God,  is  a  human  instrument,  and  wouKl  therefore 
have  the  imperfection  of  its  origin.  Then  in  one  text  it  is 
said,  "  God  is  not  a  man  that  he  should  repent."  It  is  plain, 
therefore,  that  in  the  sense  of  changing  his  ultimate  |)ur- 
pose,  God  does  not  repent ;  but  in  the  sense  of  altering  his 
procedure,  in  consequence  of  reasons  that  he  foresaw  and 
23* 


270  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

took  into  his  estimate,  that  God  is  said  to  have  repented. 
It  does  not  mean  change  of  God's  purpose,  but  change  of 
what  seems  to  us  the  fair  and  the  necessary  course  that  he 
is  about  to  pursue. 

We  then  read  that  when  Moses  came  down  from  the 
mount,  and  saw  the  sin  of  the  people,  he  let  fall  the  two 
tables  of  the  testimony  that  were  in  his  hand,  and  broke 
them.  It  is  said  of  these  tables  that  they  "  were  the  work 
of  God,  and  tlie  writing  was  the  writing  of  God,  graven 
upon  the  tables."  Some  inhdels  have  carped  at  this  ;  and  I 
must  say  it  does  seem  to  me  as  if  it  were  not  human  finger, 
or  human  stylus,  or  pen,  but  God  himself  that  engraved  it ; 
but  why  should  it  be  thought  impossible  for  God  to  engrave 
upon  stone  ?  Have  we  not  discovered  that  the  lightning 
can  carry  our  messages  —  that  the  lightning  let  go  at  Lon- 
don can  print  at  Dover,  as  has  been  more  recently  shown  — 
is  it  not  found  that  the  very  i-ays  of  light  themselves  can 
engrave  the  most  exquisite  and  intricate  imagery ;  and 
should  it  be  thought  strange,  then,  that  God  should  himself 
engrave  upon  stone  the  Ten  Commandments  ?  The  fact  is, 
the  higher  we  rise  in  scientific  knowledge,  the  more  we  see 
how  true  this  Book  is,  how  woi'thy  of  God  to  write  it,  how 
dutiful  in  man  to  believe,  and  bless  him  and  rejoice  in  him. 
Well,  when  Moses  heard  the  noise  and  "  saAV  the  calf  and 
the  dancing,"  his  feelings  were  so  excited  that  he  let  fall  the 
tables  of  stone,  and  broke  them.  This  was  the  result  of 
excitement,  of  indignation,  of  anger,  or  rather  I  should  say, 
judging  from  liis  character  here,  of  grief.  But  when  he 
came  into  the  camp,  we  liud  that  "  he  took  the  calf  which 
they  had  made,  and  burnt  it  in  the  fire,  and  grourid  it  to 
powder,  and  strewed  it  upon  the  water,  arid  made  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  drink  of  it,"  as  it  is  stated  in  a  parallel  pas- 
sage, of  which  they  were  obliged  to  drink,  as  they  had  noth- 
ing else,  in  order  to  humble  thein. 

Now,  just  notice  the  force  of  one  great  character  amid  a 


EXODUS    XXXTI.  271 

crowd.  Here  were  millions  of  people  ;  a  pojiulation  nearly 
approaching  in  number  that  of  London,  marching  through 
the  desert ;  they  might  have  stoned  Moses,  they  might  have 
killed  him;  and  yet  such  is  the  influenee  and  force  of  a  great, 
a  vigorous,  and  a  powerful  mind,  going  Ibrth  with  its  own 
great  will,  and  expressing  that  will  with  determination,  iliat 
it  made  them  all  instantly  give  up.  They  gave  up  because 
there  was  the  consciousness  of  guilt  within  them ;  he  j)re- 
vailed  because  it  was  an  upright  mind,  reminding  them 
again  of  the  duties^ that  they  owed  to  their  God,  and  which 
they  had  forgotten  that  day. 

Aaron  then  came  forward,  and  said,  "  Let  not  the  anger 
of  my  Lord  wax  hot."  Aaron  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
cold,  collected,  calculating  person,  and  yet  he  was  a  very 
eloquent  person.  Moses  was  not  eloquent.  Aaron  was  ; 
and  he  therefore  says,  "  Let  not  tlie  anger  of  my  Lord  wax 
hot."  But  what  a  miserable  apology  does  he  make!  "Thou 
knowest  the  people,  that  they  are  set  on  mischief"  —  then 
why  did  not  Aaron  try  to  set  them  uj)on  what  was  not  nns- 
chief  ?  "  For  they  said  unto  me,  Make  us  gods,  which  shall 
go  before  us:  for  as  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of 
him.  And  I  said  unto  them"  —  what  would  you  have  ex- 
pected to  find  that  he  said,  —  "Do  it  not,  for  God  has  said, 
Thou  shalt  not  make  any  graven  image  ?  "  but  he  did  not 
say  this  —  "  I  said  unto  them.  Whosoever  hath  any  gold,  let 
them  break  it  off.  So  they  gave  it  me  "  —  unexpertedly  on 
my  piu-t —  "  then  I  cast  it  into  the  tire  ;  "  and  then  he  says, 
with  apparent  innocence,  but  with  real  wickedness,  ^  and 
there  came  out  this  calf,"  as  if  he  had  never  had  the  least 
hand  in  it;  the  old  plagiarism  from  Adam  and  Eve  —  "The 
woman  gave  it  me,  and  I  did  eat ;  "  and  when  God  came  to 
the  woman,  she  said,  "  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did 
eat."  And  so  here,  Aaron  tries  to  vindicate  his  own  inno- 
cence, and  indirectly   to   cast  the  blame  on  the  providenliiU 


272  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

government  of  God,  which  permitted  the  gold  to  go  into  the 
furnace,  and  to  come  out  unexpectedly  in  the  shape  of  a  calf ! 

Then  it  is  said,  "  the  people  were  naked  ;  "  that  does  not 
mean  naked  in  the  sense  of  being  destitute  of  clothing,  but 
it  means  naked  in  the  inner  and  moral  sense  of  the  word, 
that  they  were  before  righteous,  but  that  they  now  were 
sinful. 

Then  with  respect  to  the  command  given  to  the  sons  of 
Levi,  it  was  not  Moses  that  ordered  the  three  thousand  to 
be  slain  ;  it  was  God  that  commanded  it.  Moses  was  the 
judge  who  pronounced  the  sentence,  the  sons  of  Levi  were 
the  executioners  that  carried  the  sentence  into  effect.  It 
was  not  man's  hasty  and  passionate  judgment,  but  a  solemn 
sentence  pronounced  by  God's  bidding  and  executed  by 
God's  command. 

But  how  is  it  that  amid  so  many  that  were  guilty  three 
thousand  only  were  slain  ?  The  answer  is,  there  seems  to 
have  been  three  thousand  who  still  remained  outside  the 
camp;  for  the  language  of  Moses,  in  the  27th  verse,  is, 
"  Put  every  man  his  sword  by  his  side,  and  go  in  and  out 
.from  gate  to  gate  throughout  the  camp,  and  slay  every  man  " 
—  it  was  evidently,  the  men  that  still  remained  outside  the 
camp,  and  continued  in  their  sin,  that  were  slain ;  and  those 
who  began  to  see  their  sin  in  its  true  light  were  permitted 
to  escape,  but  were  plagued  or  jjunished  with  subordinate 
penalties  and  other  chastisements. 

We  then  read  after  this  that  Moses  addressed  the  people, 
and  said,  "  Ye  have  sinned  a  great  sin  : "  that  is,  those  who 
were  still  living,  which  shows  that  it  was  only  tlie  impenitent 
that  were  slain  :  ''  and  now  I  will  go  up  unto  tlie  Lord ;  per- 
adventure  1  shall  make  an  atonement  for  your  sin."  And 
then  he  says,  "  Oh,  this  peo[)le  have  sinned  a  great  sin"  — 
when  there  is  very  strong  feeling,  very  often  that  feeling 
checks  itself  before  it  is  uttered,  if  I  may  so  speak  —  thai 
is  to  say,  it  is  too  deep  for  utterance  ;  and  in  the  32d  verse, 


EXODUS  xxxir.  273 

we  have  a  proof  of  it :  "  Yet  now,  if  tliou  wilt  for^^ivo  their 
sin  — ;"  and  he  stops  in  the  middle  of  the  sciitenct' ;  lii.s 
emotions  were  too  strong  for  utterance;  it  is  .an  unlini.sh^Ml 
sentence,  it  occurs  in  alManguages ;  "and  if  not,"  then  lie 
adds,  "  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast 
written."  Now,  I  have  lieanl  many  j)ersons  say  that  AIoscs 
asked  to  be  condemned  to  misery  himself  if  God  would  only 
spare  his  people ;  but  I  am  quite  satisfied  that  the  book  that 
is  alluded  to  here  is  a  book  that  is  elsewhere  referred  to  in 
Scripture,  and  denotes  simply  being  numbered  with  the 
living  that  are  upon  earth,  the  book  of  theli\ing;  :uid  in 
several  passages  we  find  allusions  to  it  :  "  J^et  my  name,"  as 
if  he  had  said,  "be  numbered  no  more  with  the  living  upon 
earth"  —  "Let  my  lot  be  no  more  with  the  living  upon 
earth."  See  Psa.  Ixix.  20  ;  Philip,  iv.  3  ;  Ezek.  xiii.  D  ; 
Isa.  iv.  3,  —  and  all  that  Moses  therefore  asked  liere  was, 
not  that  God  should  blot  his  name  out  of  Ilis  own  hidden 
book,  which  shall  be  produced  at  the  great  white  Throne  ; 
but  that  God  would,  if  it  pleased  him,  take  away  the  life  of 
Moses,  if  he  Avould  only  spare  the  people  that  had  been 
guilty  of  so  great  a  sin  —  "let  me  be  no  more  numbered 
with  the  living  creation  if  thou  wilt  only  spare  tiiese  "  — 
"  let  my  life  be  taken  instead  of  the  lives  of  the  oftenders 
that  have  been  guilty  before  thee."  God  said,  "  "Whosoever 
hath  sinned  against  me,  him  will  I  blot  out"  —  puni>hment 
shall  be  light  upon  the  guilty  head  ;  1  cannot  take  tlue  as  a 
substitute. 

"And    the    Lord    plagued    the    people,"    tluit    is,    m.ule 
them  feel  their  sin  afterwards,  whilst  he  did   not  destroy 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

MOSES'  TRAYER,  GOd's  GLORT.  HEAVEN,  THE  GROWING  REVE- 
I.ATION  OP  IT.  GLORT  IS  GOODNESS.  HOW  GOD  IS  GLORI- 
FIED. 

In  the  previous  chapter,  which  we  read  last  Lord's  day- 
morning,  we  had  that  most  distressing  and  humbhng  ac- 
count of  the  apostasy  of  the  children  of  Israel,  even  at  the 
foot  of  the  mount  that  burned  with  the  glory  of  God,  and 
with  the  accents  of  heaven  still  ringing  in  their  ears.  You 
will  recollect,  at  the  close  of  it,  the  intercession  of  JMoses, 
who  prayed,  not  that  he  might  be  blotted  out  of  the  Book 
of  Life  in  heaven  —  which  is  a  very  common,  but  a  very- 
mistaken  apprehension  of  the  passage  —  but  that  his  name 
might  cease  to  be  numbered  with  the  living  upon  earth,  if 
his  death  could  only  secure  for  the  people  that  had  so 
greatly  sinned,  the  favor  and  the  protection  of  God. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  Moses,  tiie  man  of  God,  brought, 
if  possible,  still  nearer  to  God ;  for  the  Lord  spoke  to  him 
"  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend."  The 
chapter  opens  with  the  beautiful  announcement  of  God  him- 
self, that,  notwithstanding  all  the  sins  of  the  past,  his  prom- 
ises should  not  fail ;  "  Depart,  and  go  up  hence,  thou  and 
the  people  which  thou  hast  brought  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  unto  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  Abraham,  to 
Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  saying,  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  it." 
How  wonderful  is  this !  The  sins  of  a  nation  do  not 
always  repel  the  protection  of  God.     When  man  is  unfaith- 


EXODUS    XXXIII.  27') 

ful  to  his  fluty,  tliough  he  forget  God's  precepts,  yet  (lod 
remembers  his  promises  of  grace,  wlien  man  has  ceased  to 
be  worthy  of  them  at  aU.  In  other  words,  olten  in  the  ex- 
perienee  of  nations,  as  well  as  in  the  exi)erience  of  individ- 
uals, "  where  sin  hath  abounded,  there  grace  hath  much 
more  abounded."  But  God  says  to  tliem,  "  1  will  send  an 
Angel  before  thee  ;  and  I  will  drive  out  the  Canaanite,  the 
Amorite,  and  the  Ilittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  the  llivite,  and 
the  Jebusite :  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  :  for 
I  will  not  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee ;  for  thou  art  a  stitl- 
neeked  people."  Now,  I  think  this  verse,  and  also  verse  5, 
where  God  says,  "  Ye  are  a  stiflfhecked  people :  I  will  come 
up  into  the  midst  of  thee  in  a  moment,  and  consume  tln-e," 
are  rather  threatcnings  of  what  Israel  deserved,  than  abso- 
lute promises  or  prophecies  that  God  desired  to  fulfil.  It 
seems  to  me  as  if  he  were  trying  them,  to  see  whether  they 
could  appreciate  his  presence,  and  whether  they  would  feel 
his  absence  and  removal  from  them  to  be  a  great  personal 
and  national  calamity ;  because  we  find  that  afterwards  he 
returns  to  them  in  loving-kindness  and  in  mercy,  and  pities 
them  as  a  father  pities  his  children. 

One  sometimes  wonders  that  God  should  so  condescend  to 
reason  with  us.  AVe  often  think  ourselves  a  very  important 
race,  and  our  world  a  very  magnificent  orb;  but  in  truth, 
if  this  little  orb  in  which  we  live  were  expunged  from  the 
orbs  of  creation,  it  would  make  no  greater  gap,  relativ«dy, 
than  a  grain  of  sand  taken  from  the  sea-shore  would  make  a 
gap  there.  We  are  much  less  in  any  sense  than  we  think 
ourselves;  and  if  we  are  great,  we  are  great  only  in  the 
splendor  of  that  greatness  that  pities  us,  and  bears  with  us, 
and  forgives  us. 

We  read  that  Moses  took  the  tabernacle,  and  carric.l  and 
pitched  it  without  the  camp;  and  when  he  came  out  into 
the  tabernacle,  all  the  people  rose  up;  and  when  he  talked 
with  the  Lord,  "all  the  people  rose  up  and  worshii.pcd, 


276  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

every  man  in  his  tent  door."  It  seems  from  all  this,  as  if 
the  terrible  judgment  on  the  three  thousand  in  the  previous 
chapter  had  been  sanctified.  Unsanctiiied  judgments  are 
the  worst  of  all  judgments  ;  but  judgments  sanctified  lose 
their  character  as  penal  visitations,  and  become  paternal 
ministries.  To  the  rest  of  the  people,  therefore,  this  judg- 
ment seems  to  have  been  sanctified ;  for  we  find  them  now 
exhibiting  a  devotional  spirit,  and  showing  an  obedience  to 
God  that  thej  did  not  manifest  before. 

We  have  a  most  interesting  and  beautiful  account  of 
Moses'  communion  with  God  — a  communion  that  is  here 
made  visible  —  but  that  still  exists  between  the  soul  and 
God  as  closely,  as  really,  as  truly,  as  it  existed  between 
God  and  Moses  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Horeb.  The  soul  can 
still  communicate  with  God.  In  that  dispensation  every 
thing  was  done  visibly ;  it  was  the  infancy  of  our  race,  and 
God  was  guiding  them  with  leading  strings.  But  now  the 
same  closeness  and  communion  is  realized  spiritually ;  the 
inner  life  being  as  real  as  the  outer  life,  though  not  visible 
like  it. 

'  God  then  speaks  to  Moses  as  knowing  him  by  name ;  and 
Moses,  encouraged  by  God's  condescending  approach  to 
him,  begins  instantly  to  pray  for  more  than  he  had.  The 
more  a  believer  has,  the  more  he  asks.  It  is  not  the  man  — 
strange  enough  —  that  needs  most  that  prays  most ;  but  it  is 
the  man  that  has  got  most  that  prays  the  more,  seeks  for 
more ;  because  the  more  we  have,  the  deeper  we  feel  the 
wants  that  still  remain  to  be  supplied;  the  more  precious 
we  feel  what  we  have,  and  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  blessed- 
ness thjit  we  felt  not  before ;  like  Moses,  we  make  one  grant 
the  pretext  for  asking  another,  and  one  blessing  a  reason  for 
seeking  more.  Therefore  Moses  says,  "I  pray  thee,  if  I 
have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,"  —  not  merit,  —  "if  I  have 
found  grace  in  thy  sight,  show  me  now  thy  way,  that  I  may 
know  thee,  that  I  may  find  grace  in  thy  sight,"  —  not  that  I 


EXODUS   XXXIII.  277 

have  deserved  it, —  "and  consider  tliat  tliis  nation  is  thy 
people."  Then  God  gave  liiiu  the  promise  of  liis  pres- 
ence: "My  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  jrive 
thee  rest."  And  Moses  felt  the  need  of  that  presence  so 
deeply,  that  he  said  that  nothing  could  be  a  substitute  for  it. 
"If  tliy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up  hence." 
Then  the  Lord  said,  "I  will  do  this  thing  also  that  thou  iiast 
spoken  ;  for  thou  hast  found  grace  in  my  sight ;  "  that  is, 
What  thou  hast  now  asked  of  me,  I  will  do. 

Then  Moses  makes  a  very  grand  [)rayer,  "I  beseech 
thee,  show  me  thy  glory."  What,  had  he  not  st^cn  it  in  the 
burning  mount,  when  the  earth  shook,  and  Israel  treml)le(], 
and  the  mount  was  crowned  with  a  coronal  of  the  intensest 
glory  ?  Had  he  not  seen  God's  glory  wl^en  they  marciied 
through  the  channels  of  the  deep  dry-shod?  Had  he  not 
seen  it  in  the  rock  in  the  wilderness  ?  Had  he  not  seen  it 
in  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  ?  What  else  could  he  want  to 
see?  My  dear  friends,  it  is  the  law  of  our  being,  that  the 
more  we  know,  not  only  the  more  we  discover  remains  to  be 
known,  but  the  more  we  pray  that  we  may  know.  1  believe 
that  heaven  will  consist  in  endless  approximation  to  God ; 
not  only  in  character,  not  only  in  hai)piness,  but  also  in 
knowledge.  I  believe  that  all  we  know  at  present,  com- 
pared with  what  remains  to  be  known,  of  mystery,  and 
beauty,  and  greatness,  in  the  world  of  creation,  in  the  world 
of  providence,  is  a  mere  drop  in  the  bucket.  Even  the 
great  Newton  could  say,  when  he  was  congratulated  on  his 
attainments,  in  some  such  words  as  these,  '*  I  am  but  like  a 
child  that  has  picked  up  a  few  beautifid  shells  upon  the  sea- 
shore, where  the  great  unsounded  ocean,  that  I  know  notli- 
ing  of,  stretches  far  away  before  me."  And  we  shall  find  in 
heaven  that  it  will  be  rising  constantly  to  a  new  iiorizon  ; 
the  verge  of  the  horizon  to-day  becoming  the  centre  of 
another  to-morrow  ;  and  every  day  bringing  new  stores  of 
light,  as  well  as  new  accessions  of  joy.  If  there  be  prayer 
24 


278  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

in  heaven,  where  all  is  praise,  that  prayer  will  be,  "I  be- 
seech thee,  show  me  thy  glory ; "  and  every  apocalypse  of 
his  glory  will  only  make  you  long  to  see  more ;  and  the 
more  you  know,  the  more  you  desire  still  to  know. 

God  instantly  answered  him  ;  and  how  very  beautifully 
does  he  answer  him  !  "  I  beseech  thee,  show  me  thy  glory." 
"  And  God  said,"  I  will  do  what  ?  "  I  will  make  all  my 
goodness  pass  before  thee."  What  a  beautiful  connection  is 
that  —  that  God's  glory  is  seen  in  comparison  as  God's 
goodness  is  felt !  I  think  that  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
thoughts  in  the  whole  Bible  —  that  God's  name  is  covered 
with  its  richest  lustre,  when  God's  goodness  is  felt  most 
deeply  by  the  greatest  number  of  believing  hearts.  God 
was  covered  with  glory,  when  he  said,  upon  the  circum- 
ference, if  I  might  so  call  it,  of  the  heavens,  "  Let  there  be 
light :  and  there  was  light ;  "  but  he  appeared  in  yet  richer 
glory  when  he  stooped  from  the  cross,  amid  his  agony  and 
bloody  SAveat,  and  said  to  the  malefactor,  "  This  day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise : "  because  creation  glory  was 
the  manifestation  of  omnipotent  power ;  but  redemption 
glory  was  the  exhibition  of  his  greatest  goodness  ;  and  where 
his  goodness  is  felt  most,  there  his  glory  is  best  seen.  You 
will  understand  what  is  meant  by  giving  glory  to  God.  You 
remember  the  question  I  have  often  quoted  —  I  think  the 
grandest  question  that  can  possibly  be  asked  —  the  first  that 
we  learn  in  the  North  in  infancy,  and  the  highest  that  a 
philosopher  can  study,  —  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ?  " 
"  To  glorify  God."  That  is  the  first  thing  ;  not  to  make 
money,  not  to  get  rich,  to  become  great,  but  to  glorify  God. 
How  do  we  do  so  ?  We  cannot  add  any  thing  to  God's 
being;  God,  as  an  Infinite  Being,  is  glorified  just  in  pro- 
portion as  he  is  seen.  A  man  is  glorified  by  something 
added  to  his  rank,  or  to  his  wealth,  or  to  his  power.  A 
creature  must  be  added  to  in  order  to  be  glorified ;  but  the 
Infinite  is  glorified  just  in  proportion  as  he  is  seen  as  he  is. 


EXODUS   XXXIII.  279 

The  more  you  see  of  God,  the  more  you  glorify  God  ;  ami 
the  more  in  your  lite  you  prove  that  you  know  what  God  is, 
the  more  God  is  gloritied  in  you. 

God  said  to  Moses,  You  c<annot  bear  the  intense  hght. 
Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  glory  of  God  is  not  only  moral, 
but  it  seems,  judging  from  the  Shechinali,  or  the  pillar  of  tire 
by  night,  and  also  from  the  description  in  the  dose  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation,  that  there  is  a  visible  glory  about  Deity. 
It  is  said  at  the  close  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  "There  is 
no  need  of  the  sun  or  of  the  moon,"  implying  that  a  greater 
lustre  than  either  has  superseded  them.  And  what  is  that 
greater  lustre?  The '•  glory  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb;" 
so  that  it  seems  in  the  age  that  is  to  come,  there  will  be  a 
glory  beside  which  the  sun  and  the  moon  will  grow  pale  ;  a 
glory  so  intense  that  the  eye  cannot  now  bear  it ;  and  Closes 
even,  Avho  spoke  with  God  face  to  face,  had  to  go  into  a  elefl 
of  the  rock  and  be  covered  with  God's  hand ;  and  the 
apostle  says  that  rock  was  Christ ;  and  he  could  only  catch 
there  a  glimpse  of  the  intolerable  splendor  as  it  swe})t  by. 

May  we  be  found  standing  on  that  Rock  ;  may  we  be 
found  in  Christ,  and  so  taste  God's  goodness,  and  see  God's 
glory,  and  be  thus  happy  ! 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

MOSES  PREPARES  NEW  STONES.  GOd's  APOCALYPSE  ON  THE  MOUNT. 
MOSES  PRAYS,  THE  EXTERMINATION  OF  THE  CANAANITES.  TUB 
EXPULSION  OF  ROMANISM.  SABBATH  IN  HARVEST.  FASTING. 
PEOTESTANTISJI   AND    POPERY. 

In  a  former  chapter,  you  will  recollect  that  it  is  written 
that  God  himself  prepared  the  stones  on  which  the  Ten 
Commandments  were  to  be  inscribed;  and  with  his  own 
Divine  linger  —  that  is,  by  his  own  special  power  —  im- 
printed on  those  tables  of  stone  the  words  of  the  Law  that 
abideth  for  ever.  Moses,  you  will  recollect,  broke  the  stones 
in  his  f^reat  indignation  at  the  terrible  apostasy  which  began 
to  manifest  itself  among  the  children  of  Israel,  aided,  most 
criminally  aided,  by  Aaron  the  pi'iest,  who  ought  to  have 
taught  them  to  be  steadfast  and  immovable,  and  to  keep  to 
the  truth,  as  that  truth  had  been  revealed.  On  this  occasion 
you  will  see  that  God  does  not  either  make,  or  hew,  or  pre- 
pare the  stones,  but  tells  Moses  to  get  ready  the  stones,  and 
to  prepare  them,  and  to  shape  them  after  a  model  which  he 
had  seen  on  the  mount,  and  which  came  originally  from  the 
plastic  hand  of  Deity.  Moses  did  so ;  but  it  is  said,  the 
Lord  wrote  the  law  upon  these  tables  of  stone,  though  they 
differed  in  this  respect  in  the  second  instance,  that  Moses, 
not  God,  hewed  or  shaped  the  stone.  What  was  the  reason 
of  this  it  is  dillicult  to  say  ;  perhaps  it  was  a  less  visible 
memorial  and  residence  of  the  glory  of  God  vvith  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel    in    consequence   of  their  apostasy,  and  to 


EXODUS    XXXTV.  281 

remind  them,  throughout  their  nation's  liistory,  of  tliat  ^n-at 
and  grievous  sin,  their  idohitry  at  the  bottom  of  the  mount. 

Moses,  in  obedience  to  tlic  command  of  CJod,  went  up  to 
Mount  Sinai,  and  presented  himself  before  God.  He  only 
could  do  so;  he  was  a  typical  mediator,  a  representative,  a 
figurative  symbol  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  mediator,  who 
has  passed  into  the  true  holy  place,  and  appears  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God  for  us.  But  it  is  very  beautiful  to  see  that  on 
that  very  mount  which  burned  with  lire,  was  shrouded  witli 
blackness,  and  from  which  the  deep  bass  of  the  thunder 
rolled  continually  into  the  ears  of  quaking  Israel  —  that  on 
that  very  mount,  whose  antecedents  had  been  so  dark  and 
so  terrific,  God  revealed  the  most  beautiful  and  comforting 
description  of  himself  recorded,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  Bible  ; 
to  show  that  Israel  was  not  to  be  under  mere  law  ;  but  while 
they  saw  and  learned  what  the  law  was,  they  were  also  to 
have  a  foretaste  of  what  the  Gospel  was  also.  We  asso- 
ciate with  Sinai  every  thing  that  is  terrific  ;  the  contact  and 
the  presence  of  a  sovereign,  a  legislator,  a  judge.  But  we 
should  not  forget  that  on  Sinai  also  was  revealed  that  beauti- 
ful portrait  of  Deity  :  "  The  Lord  God,  merciful,  and  gracious, 
longsuffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping 
mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  and  transgression, 
and  sin."  This,  again,  corroborates  what  I  have  freiiuently 
remarked,  —  that  God  never  says  a  word  of  terror  that  is 
not  followed  by  two  of  comfort ;  that  he  never  shows  the 
dark  cloud  without  seams  in  it  letting  forth  a  portion  of  his 
love,  mercy,  and  beneficence;  in  short,  that  behind  tlie  cloud 
he  hides  a  Father's  face. 

When  he  had  made  this  revelation  of  himself  to  Moses, 
Moses  bowed  himself  and  worshipped,  and  said,  -If  now  I 
have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord,  let  my  Lord,  I  pray 
thee,  go  among  us  ;  for  it  is  a  stilfnecked  people ;  and  par- 
don our  iniquity  and  our  sin,  and  take  us  for  thine  inheri- 
tance." Kow,  what  gave  Moses  conlidence  to  ullcr  such  a 
24* 


282  SCKIPTURE    READINGS. 

petition  as  this  ?  On  Sinai,  while  tlie  law  was  given,  he 
uttered  no  such  prayer.  It  is  said  that  Moses  then  quaked, 
and  trembled.  But  here,  you  observe  he  addresses  God  in 
prayer,  seeks  pardon,  and  not  only  seeks  pardon  for  the 
past,  but  prays  for  a  favor,  the  richest  and  greatest  that 
God  could  bestow  —  that  he  would  make  his  people  his 
very  inheritance.  Man's  inheritance  is  that  which  he 
prizes ;  if  it  be  an  estate,  if  it  be  wealth,  it  is  something 
that  he  takes  to  himself,  and  that  he  prizes  highly  because  it 
is  valuable.  Now,  Moses  says  to  God,  "  IMake  this  very 
people,  this  stitFnecked  people  —  pardoning  first  their  sin  — 
that  peculiar  people,  that  chosen  nation,  that  royal  priest- 
hood, that  holy  generation,  thine  own  very  inheritance 
which  thou  wilt  prize  for  ever  and  ever.  That  which 
emboldened  Moses  thus  to  pray  was  the  manifestation  of 
God's  character  just  previously  —  "  The  Lord  God,  merci- 
ful and  gracious."  As  if  Moses  had  said,  "  Well,  if  this  be 
the  God  I  have  to  deal  with,  I  need  not  hesitate  to  ask  of 
him  any  thing  that  I  want  for  me  or  mine."  In  other  words, 
the  revelation  of  God  in  all  his  excellency,  is  not  only  the 
ground  of  prayer,  but  the  highest  possible  encouragement 
to  pray.  When  we  pray,  we  do  not  pray  to  God  the  judge, 
or  to  God  the  legislator,  but  we  begin  our  prayer  as  we 
should  ever  begin  our  creed,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven."  And  why  do  we  say  "  Father  ? "  Because  he 
has  first  revealed  himself  our  Fatlier  in  Christ,  foro-ivinof 
iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin  ;  and  seeing  the  revelation 
of  liimself  that  he  has  given  us,  we  make  that  the  basis  of 
our  asking  the  largest  blessings  that  heart  can  conceive,  or 
the  tongue  of  prayer  can  give  utterance  to. 

God  next  instructs  ]\Ioses  what  he  was  to  do  among  this 
pco[)le.  He  says  first  of  all,  that  he  would  drive  out  before 
them  all  the  heathen  inlui])itants  of  the  land,  "the  Amorite, 
and  tlie  Canaanite,  and  the  Ilittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and 
the  Ilivite,  and  tlie  Jebusite;"  and  we  read  that  they  were 


EXODIS    XXXIV.  283 

driven  out  by  battle,  and  Ijuninc,  ami  sliuiLrlilcr,  an.l  by  ter- 
rible punishments.  The  scei)tie  lias  often  cavilled  at  this, 
and  said,  "  How  can  we  suppose  that  the  (lod  who  revealed 
himself  thus  upon  the  mount  would  have  exterminated 
whole  races  in  the  way  he  has  done  ?"  I  answer,  lirst:  — 
God  is  revealed  as  a  God  of  love,  justice,  truth ;  therefore, 
what  he  did,  even  if  we  could  not  see  how,  he  did  justly, 
truly,  righteously,  and  well.  And  in  the  second  place  :  ■ — 
Are  not  individuals  punished  in  society  for  their  crimes  ?  A 
criminal  is  seized  by  the  police,  condemned  by  the  law, 
driven  to  a  penal  settlement,  or  disposed  of  by  the  jiid^re; 
that  is,  a  man  sins  against  society,  and  society,  with  all  its 
mercy,  feels  it  a  duty  it  owes  to  itself  to  remove  the  indi- 
vidual who  has  become  guilty  against  the  lirst  laws,  and 
rights,  and  duties  of  our  social  system. —  When  God  drove 
out  those  nations,  he  acted  as  a  judge.  They  were  crimi- 
nals, not  hidden  criminals,  but  proved  criminals.  You  are 
told  their  sins  had  risen  to  heaven  ;  they  indulged  in  the 
most  abominable,  the  most  depraved,  and  revolting  prac- 
tices ;  and  when  God  drove  them  out,  it  was  not  simply  — 
as  a  sceptic  would  make  you  think  —  to  make  room  for  the 
Israelites,  but  it  was  punishing  justly  and  righteously  a 
guilty  race,  and  giving  their  empty  land  to  a  people,  not 
innocent,  for  they  were  a  stiffnecked  people,  but  a  people 
that  he  had  chosen  to  make  by  his  grace  what  they  should 
be  —  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  unto  his  Christ. 
There  was  nothing  unjust  in  this  expulsion  of  these  nations, 
in  order  to  make  room  for  the  children  of  Israel.  The  ex- 
pression "  God  is  a  jealous  God,"  and  the  warning  to  Mo^^es 
not  to  make  any  covenant  with  the  Canaanites,  but  to 
destroy  their  altars,  must  suggest  itself  the  reason  for  it.  It 
seems  strange  that  the  Jews  should  be  so  prone  to  idolatrous 
practices ;  yet  I  ought  not  to  say  so  ;  it  is  too  common  now. 
The  Jews  were  meant  to  be  a  nation  insulated  from  the  rest 
of  the  earth,  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  model  peoi.le,  or,  if  not  a 


284  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

model  people,  a  specimen  of  what  human  nature  is  when 
left  to  itself  for  a  moment,  and  what  grace  can  make  out  of 
the  very  worst  of  human  nature  by  its  transforming  power. 
Now,  their  only  safety  was  in  their  complete  insulation  ;  the 
moment  that  they  had  any  intercourse  with  the  surrounding 
nations,  that  moment  they  adopted  their  habits.  Now,  how 
do  you  account  for  this  ?  Because  we  are  a  fallen  race.  If 
men  were  born,  as  the  philosopher  guessed,  or  thought  he 
was  born  —  his  soul,  his  heart,  his  conscience,  like  a  tabula 
rasa  —  that  is,  like  a  blank  piece  of  paper  with  nothing  on 
it,  then  whatever  influence  man  is  first  exposed  to  would 
write  itself  deepest,  and  would  be  the  great  and  the  ruling 
one.  But  we  know  every  man  is  born,  not  a  blank,  but 
blighted,  stained,  depraved,  sinful ;  and  being  so,  his  sympa- 
thies are  with  what  is  evil,  and  against  what  is  good.  And 
if  such  be  his  nature,  you  can  see  that  to  keep  him  away 
the  furthest  from  the  evil  is  a  necessary  step  to  enable  him 
to  resist  and  overcome,  as  well  as  to  obtain  the  influence  of 
the  good  that  is  promised.  And  therefore  God  said,  "  Ye 
shall  destroy  their  altars,  break  their  images,  and  cut  down 
tlieir  groves."  That  is  the  truest  philosophy.  If  in  this 
land.  I  think,  they  had  effaced  every  lingering  impression 
of  former  superstition,  every  thing  that  was  imported  from 
Romanism,  even  if  in  itself  indifferent  at  the  Reformation, 
there  would  not  have  been  again  the  unhappy  attempt  to 
construct  Romanism  in  the  midst  of  a  truly  and  constitu- 
tionally Protestant  Church.  In  the  Scotch  Church,  they 
weeded  out  Romanism,  root  and  branch,  most  thoroughly, 
so  that  it  has  never  found  a  nook,  or  a  crevice,  or  a  corner 
to  sprout  in,  from  John  o' Groats  to  the  Tweed.  It  has  been 
completely  expunged  from  the  Church,  because  neither 
grove  nor  altar,  nor  image,  nor  any  thing  of  the  kind  what- 
ever has  been  retained.  I  believe  such  was  the  feeling  of 
Latimer,  and  Cranmer,  and  Ridley,  but  they  were  not  able 
to  do  all  that  they  wished.      One  is  only  thankful  that  they 


Exonrs   XXXIV.  285 

did  so  mucli,  and  oanicslly  do  we  ])r;iy  tliat  wliat  tlicy  did 
may  always  predominate,  liut  in  all  these  thinj^s  tlic  '^vr-dt 
object  is  clear  separation  from  wliat  is  evil.  AVe  know,  as 
Knox  himself  said,  roughly  it  may  be,  but  truly,  speaking 
not  of  the  churches,  bat  of  the  monasteries,  that,  when  the 
nests  are  pulled  down,  the  rooks  will  fly  away. 

AYe  read,  here,  of  several  observances,  anion";  which  is 
one  very  remarkable :  ''  Six  days  thou  shalt  work,  but  on  the 
seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest :  in  earing  time  and  in  harvest 
thou  shalt  rest ;  "  that  is,  You  shall  not  violate  the  Sabbath 
day  because  it  is  harvest.  I  have  heard  persons  say.  It  has 
been  six  days  very  wet;  the  corn  is  standing,  and  Sunday 
happens  to  be  a  bright  sunny  day ;  and  they  say.  We  ought 
to  go  and  cut  down  the  corn  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Here  is 
a  provision  for  this  very  possibility.  God  says,  Even  in 
harvest  and  earing  time  you  shall  still  keep  the  Sabbath 
sacred  to  God.  And  I  have  noticed,  although  I  admit  my 
observation  has  been  very  limited,  that  that  man  who  has 
cut  down  his  corn  on  the  Sunday  in  order  to  get  it  in  well, 
did  not  succeed  one  whit  better  in  the  long  run,  than  he  that 
observed  the  Sabbath  as  holy,  and  waited  for  sunny  week- 
days in  order  to  do  his  weekday  work.  I  admit  that  there 
are  works  of  necessity  and  mercy  tliat  are  proper  to  be  done 
on  the  Sabbath  day;  and  I  can  conceive  the  possibility  that 
a  time  may  come  —  an  autunni  may  come — when,  even 
upon  the  Sabbath  day,  you  should  be  obliged  to  cut  down 
the  corn  in  consequence  of  unfavorable  weather  on  the 
weekdays ;  but  you  should  first  be  well  satisfied  that  there 
is  no  prospect  of  sunshine  during  the  six  days  that  are  to 
follow.  Do  not  forget  that  Ciod  said  —  not  as  ceremony  but 
morality  —  that  in  earing  time,  and  in  harvest  even,  ihuu 
shalt  rest,  or  sabbatize,  or  keep  the  Lord's  day. 

After  reading  of  certain  injunctions  that  God  made,  we 
find  that  JNIoses  was  forty  days  and  forty  nights  on  llie 
mount  —  "  he  did  neither  cat  bread,  uor  drink  water."   This 


286  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  not  the  fast  that  they  attempt  at  Rome,  and  which  they 
do  very  badly,  by  simply  abstaining  from  flesh,  and  eating 
vegetables,  and  even  sometimes  fish ;  but  it  was  an  absolute 
fast ;  it  was  total  abstinence  from  food.  So,  when  our 
Blessed  Lord  fasted  in  the  desert,  it  was  an  absolute  fast. 
But  I  cannot  see  that  fasting  is  one  of  the  imitable  perfec- 
tions of  Christ;  we  cannot  follow  his  example  by  totally 
abstaining  from  food  for  forty  days.  There  are  some  things 
in  Jesus  that  are  not  for  us  to  imitate :  his  walking  on  the 
waves  of  the  sea ;  his  raising  the  dead  ;  his  forgiving  sins. 
Christ  is  our  example  in  all  his  imitable  perfections ;  but 
there  w^ere  traits  in  his  character  which  are  inimitable,  and 
I  cannot  see  that  the  forty  days'  fast  is  at  all  imitable.  And 
if  to  fast  totally  was  the  practice  of  Moses  here,  and  if 
Jesus  fasted  totally  during  those  days  he  was  in  the  desert, 
it  is  quite  certain  that  we  cannot  do  it ;  if  the  experiment 
be  made  desperately,  it  must  end  fatally ;  and  if  made  im- 
perfectly, I  do  not  see  the  good  to  the  conscience,  or  the 
sanctification  to  the  heart,  that  can  possibly  follow  from 
stinting  and  starving  the  flesh.  It  is,  my  dear  friends,  so 
important  to  remember,  that  to  mortify  the  flesh  is  Popery ; 
to  mortify  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  is  Protestantism.  To  do 
penance,  by  walking  upon  pebbles  twenty  miles,  is  Roman- 
ism; to  repent,  is  Protestantism.  But  the  former  is  very 
easy  to  human  nature,  —  the  latter  needs  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God  to  inspire  and  teach  it. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV.     5—7. 
THE    SAVING   NAME. 

SAVING     NAME.      MORAL     GLORY.      IIOAVARD    AND     BYRON,      EACH 
ATTRIBUTE.      SOLUTION    OF    SINNERs'    DIFFICULTIES. 

"And  the  Lord  clescended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  Avith 
him  there,  and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And 
the  Lord  passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  The  Loud, 
the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  longsuffering,  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thou- 
sands, forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  tliat 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty ;  visiting  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the  children's  chil- 
dren, unto  the  third  and  to  the  fourth  generation." 

The  petition  of  Moses  was  most  unselfish  ;  as  if  ho  had 
said, —  Lord,  do  not  give  me  an  illustrious  name;  do  not 
make  me  to  be  remembered  to  all  generations  ;  let  my 
name  be  eclipsed  by  the  splendor  and  magnificence  of  thine. 
Lord,  show  me  not  my  fame,  my  destiny,  nor  even  my  name 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life ;  but  show  me  thy  glory,  let  me 
see  it  as  it  shines  in  the  firmament  when  the  heavens  arc 
telling,  and  all  the  stars  are  the  syllables  that  compose  it  ; 
let  me  see  that  glory  on  earth  ;  in  the  quiet  ix-aufy  of  mom, 
in  the  meridian  strength  of  noon,  in  the  matron  dignity  and 
soft  shades  of  evening,  let  me  see  thy  glory.  Let  me  see  it 
in  providence,  overruling  its  most  com})lieate(l  events,  to 
beneficent  and  glorious  issues.     But  above  all,  show  mc  thy 


288  SCllIPTURE    HEADINGS. 

glory,  wliere  that  glory  is  concentrated  as  in  the  brightest 
and  most  refulgent  mirror,  in  Christ  crncilied,  in  whom  alone 
I  trust,  and  Avho  is  "  the  brightness  of  thy  glory,  and  the  ex- 
press image  of  thy  person." 

Now,  when  Moses  asked  this  very  natural  grant,  "  Show 
me  Thy  glory,"  the  answer  that  God  gave  to  him  was  a  very 
guarded  one,  if  such  criticism  ought  to  be  ventured  at  all ; 
but  just  the  answer  w^e  should  have  expected,  or  if  not  ex- 
pected, that  we  can  see  to  be  so  precious ;  "  And  God  said, 
I  will  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will 
proclaim  the  name  of  the  Lord."  The  request  is,  "  Show 
me  Thy  glory ;  "  the  answer  is,  "  I  will  make  all  my  good- 
ness pass  before  thee."  How  precious  is  the  thought  sug- 
gested by  this  —  that  when  God  is  seen  to  be  most  good  to 
his  creatures,  he  is  then  seen  to  be  most  glorious  in  the  uni- 
verse ;  that  the  glory  and  the  goodness  of  God  are  so  con- 
nected together  that  where  the  one  is  most  revealed,  the 
other  shines  in  its  richest  splendor.  Not  power  in  creating, 
not  justice  in  punishing,  but  goodness  in  saving,  sets  forth 
most  the  glory  of  God.  Creation  is  the  mirror  of  his  power ; 
Sinai  is  the  pedestal  of  his  justice ;  but  Calvary  is  the  scene 
of  his  goodness,  and  therefore  of  his  great  glory.  And  we 
all  know  that  great  genius  may  make  us  wonder,  great  riches 
may  make  us  envy,  great  strength  may  startle  us  ;  but  great 
goodness  rises  upon  the  soul  with  an  influence  like  the 
sun  in  his  shining  light,  making  us  love  as  well  as  admire, 
and  reverence,  and  esteem.  Lost  as  man  is,  goodness  is 
still  most  impressive  on  the  heart  of  the  very  worst.  Even 
Avitli  all  our  depravity,  who  does  not  admire  Howard,  the 
philanthropist,  vastly  more  than  Byron  the  poet?  There 
may  have  been  little  genius  in  Howard,  as  the  world  calls 
genius,  but  there  was  a  beneficence  that  went  into  the  re- 
treats of  fever,  into  the  lairs  of  vice,  shut  its  eyes  to  monu- 
mental remains  of  ancient  days,  and  opened  his  heart  only 
to  the  cry  of  them  that  were  appointed  to  die.     And  when 


EXODUS    XXXIV.  289 

one  hears  what  he  did,  and  what  he  dared  uii.lcr  tlic  in^pi- 
ration  of  goodness,  one  is  not  awed,  but  clianncd  arid  de- 
lighted, with  the  cliaracter  of  Howard.  But  wlicn  w(!  sfc, 
on  the  other  hand,  great  g(Miius  —  and  our.  caiuK.l  hiii  ailinirt- 
sueh  a  genius  as  that  gifted  nobleman  had  —  wewoiKh-rat 
the  greatness  and  the  versatihty  of  inteUeet  ;  but  when  that 
intellect  was  used  only  to  scathe,  and  to  wither,  and  to  bla>t, 
we  look  upon  it  in  the  same  way  as  upon  the  sirocco  in  the 
desert,  we  are  rather  terrified  at  it,  or  retreat  from  it,  or 
would  rather  wish  we  should  not  see  it  at  all.  l*ut  how- 
complete  is  the  contrast  between  goodness  in  a  Howard,  and 
mere  power  in  a  Byron !  And  is  there  one  in  this  assend>ly 
that  would  not  infinitely  rather  take  the  example  of  Howard 
as  his  model,  than  wish  the  power  of  Byi-on  to  be  liis  pos- 
session? But  this  is  in  the  human,  and  I  (juote  it  in  the 
human  only  to  show  you  more  clearly  the  truth  I  am  trying 
to  teach  ;  that  not  the  manifestation  of  power,  not  the  mani- 
festation of  justice,  but  the  manifestation  of  goodness,  is  the 
most  impressive  on  the  heart.  God  adds  also,  ''  I  will  pro- 
claim the  name  of  the  Lord."  Thus  we  see  that  God's 
goodness,  God's  glory,  and  God's  name,  are  one  and  the 
same  thing.  How  truly,  then,  has  John  summed  up  the 
whole  of  this  beautiful  revelation  —  "The  Lord  God,  merci- 
ful and  gracious,"  in  one  short  sentence !  "  God  is  love,"  lie 
might  have  said,  "  God  is  power,"  "  God  is  justice,"  "  God  is 
truth,"  and  it  would  have  been  all  correct ;  but  love,  and 
mercy,  and  goodness,  were  what  the  old  Puritans  called  the 
darling  attributes  of  God.  He  singles  out  that  attribute 
which  strikes  the  human  heart  with  the  greatest  force,  and 
sanctifies  what  it  strikes.  "  God  is  love  ; "  this  is  his  name, 
this  is  the  epitome  of  ''The  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gra- 
cious." Now,  every  attribute  in  this  name  is  just  a  syllable 
setting  forth  and  composing  together  God's  name.  "  '1  he 
LourV'  that  is  one  syllable,  "the  Loud  God"  another; 
"merciful,  gracious,  longsufVcring,  abundant  in  goodness  uud 
25 


290  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

truth ;  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin ;  these  syl- 
lables form  the  complete  or  perfect  name  of  God.  Let  us 
look  at  them,  and  very  briefly.  First  of  all  you  notice  it  is 
in  capital  letters.  In  reading  the  Scriptures  you  must  have 
observed  that  wherever  the  word  is  Jehovah,  there  the  word 
Lord  is  in  capital  letters  ;  but  in  another  instance,  where 
the  word  "  Lord  "  is  not  the  translation  of  Jehovah,  you  will 
find  it  is  printed  in  small  letters.  In  the  9th  verse,  "And 
he  said,  If  now  I  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  0  Jehovah, 
let  my  Lord "  —  our  translators  have  very  properly  put 
"  Lord  "  in  the  second  passage  in  small  letters.  In  the  first, 
"  Lord  "  is  the  rendering  of  Jehovah  ;  in  the  second  it  is 
of  Adonai.  In  the  New  Testament  the  first  is  Kvpioq,  and 
the  second  is  {5fCT7ror?/f,  from  which  comes  our  word  despotism, 
and  which  means  "  master,"  or  "  governor,"  or  "  ruler." 
The  first  syllable  here  is  "  the  Lord,"  that  is,  Jehovah ;  and 
the  meaning  of  Jehovah  is  "  the  everlasting,"  "  the  self-exist- 
ing;" and  this  word  to  the  Jews  was  so  sacred,  that  in  read- 
ing the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  they  do  not  mention  it ; 
they  substitute  the  other  Hebrew  word,  adonai,  in  its  stead. 
If  a  Jew  found  the  word  Jehovah  on  a  slip  of  parchment 
torn  out  of  one  of  his  sacred  books,  that  piece  of  parchment 
was  consecrated  for  ever,  as  if  the  very  name  of  God  upon 
it  made  it  sacred.  It  was  called  the  incommunicable  name 
of  God.  But  in  order  to  complete  it,  there  is  added,  "  The 
Lord  —  Jehovah  —  God."  The  word  here  is  the  translation 
of  El,  the  same  word  which  Jesus  said  upon  the  cross  when 
he  said  "  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabacthani  ? "  that  is,  "  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  and  the  meaning  of 
it  is  strength,  omnipotent  power.  It  is  very  important,  that 
this  declaration  of  so  rich  goodness  should  be  prefaced  by  a 
declaration  of  Almiglity  power  ;  and  that  when  you  read, 
God  is  merciful,  God  is  gracious,  God  is  ibrgiving,  you  may 
know  before  you  read,  that  he  has  power  in  himself  to  give 
all  he  offers,  and  apply  every  attribute  that  subsequently 


EXODIS    XXXIV.  201 

occurs  in  liis  name ;  his  groat nes;.s  begins  tliiit  wo  may  not 
presume  upon  liis  goodness  ;  his  gooihiess  Ibllows  that  we 
may  not  be  awed  or  terriliod  by  his  grcatiioss.  The  Lonl 
God,  it  is  added  in  the  next  ijlacc,  is  mcn-itiil.  Now,  what  \n 
mercy  ?  It  is  an  attribute  of  God  that  could  not  l)e  existent 
if  I  can  make  myself  understood,  unless  there  were  sin  in 
the  world.  Mercy  is  love  through  Christ  in  contact  with 
sin.  If  you  take  a  three-sided  piece  of  glass,  called  ai)ri>m, 
and  let  the  rays  of  the  noonday  sun  pass  througli  it,  tin; 
pure  white  light  will  be  refracted  into  what  we  commonly 
call  seven  colors,  but  what  more  scientilically  are  called  three 
colors.  Well,  mercy  is  love  refracted  through  Christ ;  it  is 
love  reaching  us  through  Jesus,  and  in  contact  with  our  sins. 
But  the  idea  of  atonement  is  also  in  it  plaiidy  enough, 
from  the  fact,  that  "the  mercy-seat  "  is  properly  "the  afone- 
ment  seat ; "  atonement  by  ''  mercy  "  is  tlui  best  way  oi"  con- 
veying the  original  meaning.  And  therefore,  whenever  you 
read  of  God's  mercy,  hear  the  undertone  of  sin  in  the  crea- 
ture, and  of  love  in  God  reaching  that  sin,  in  order  to  forgive 
it  through  Christ  Jesus. 

It  is  next  declared  that  God  is  gracious.  Now,  the  mean- 
ino-  of  grace  is,  that  whatever  God  does,  he  does  in  sove- 
reignty ;  that  it  has  not  to  be  purchased,  that  his  imons 
cannot  be  paid  for.  The  prayer  of  Wicklitl'e,  the  morning 
star  of  the  Reformation,  is  a  very  beautiful  one ;  "  Lord, 
save  me  gratis ; "  or  as  it  is  in  New  Testament  language, 
"  Save  me  by  grace."  A  Jewish  commentator  says,  "  We 
call  that  grace  which  we  bestow  on  any  man  to  whom  wc 
owe  nothing."  Now,  when  God  is  gracious,  it  is  something 
that  he  bestows  upon  us  when  he  owes  to  us  nothing.  No 
gift  of  God  can  be  purchased  —  not  intellect,  not  memory 
can  be  purchased;  no  grace  of  God  can  be  purchased; 
neither  sanctiiication  nor  peace.  But  how  interesting,  that 
while  God's  blessings  are  in  one  sense  unpurcha>alde  l»less- 
in"-s,  in  another  sense  they  are  as  cheap  as  a  summer  day, 


292  scRirTURE  readings. 

free  as  the  atmosphere  that  we  breathe  ;  they  may  be  had 
gratis.  Because  tliey  are  unpurchasable,  they  are  not  there- 
fore inaccessible  ;  they  are  given  freely  by  grace  to  those 
■vvho  ask  them. 

The  next  syllable  of  this  beautiful  name  is  "  longsuffer- 
in"-."  I  have  often  thought  this  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
attributes  of  God.  Just  think  that  if  this  earth  on  which 
we  live  were  expunged,  if  God  were  to-morrow,  by  his  Al- 
mighty fiat,  to  quench  this  little  spark  in  the  universe  that 
we  call  the  world,  by  the  breath  of  his  nostrils,  or  the  bid- 
ding of  his  word,  it  would  not  be  one  whit  more  missed  than 
a  child  would  be  missed  from  the  thiee  millions  that  com- 
pose London  ;  than  a  grain  of  sand  would  be  missed  upon 
the  ever-sounding  sea-shore,  and  God  would  not  thereby  part 
with  one  atom  of  his  happiness  ;  he  might  fill  its  place  with 
a  world  ten  times  more  beautiful,  with  people  ten  times 
more  holy,  happy,  obedient,  and  loyal.  And  yet,  while  he 
could  do  all  this,  oh  !  wondrous  feature!  His  blessed  char- 
acter, he  has  borne  six  thousand  years  nearly  with  this 
world,  rebellious,  resistant,  disloyal,  sinful.  But  let  us  indi- 
vidualize God's  longsutfering  ;  I  take  an  individual  ;  every 
beat  of  his  heart  is  a  rebound  to  God's  touch  ;  every  expi- 
ration and  inspiration  of  his  lungs  is  the  immediate  power 
of  God.  AVe  call  it  nature,  because  we  are  accustomed  to 
it;  but  it  is  as  much  God  as  raising  the  dead ;  a  living  man 
is  a  greater  miracle,  that  is,  a  greater  manifestation  of  God's 
power  than  a  dead  man  raised  out  of  the  grave ;  only  we 
are  so  accustomed  to  it,  that  we  do  not  see  it  to  be  so.  I 
take  this  individual,  living  not  only  without  God,  but  in 
opposition  to  God  ;  grieving  God,  and  breaking  his  holy 
law,  and  yet  God  bears  with  him,  is  longsulfering.  What  a 
wonder  that  it  is  so  !  God  gains  nothing  by  it;  he  would 
lose  nothing  by  his  death.  Why  is  lie  so  longsutfering  ? 
AVe  cannot  explain  it  ;  only  let  us  not,  from  fear  of  destruc- 
tion—  for  that  is  a  low  and  vulgar  emotion  —  but  let  us, 


EXODUS    XXXIV.  203 

out  of  gratitude  to  him,  out  of  love  \o  liiin  wlio  has  so  long 
borne  with  us,  cease  to  do  evil,  and  Irani  to  do  w.ll.  Let 
us  close  with  the  offers  of  his  word,  let  us  tiiist  in  lii>  iianif, 
and  serve  him  in  righteousness  and  holinc.-s  all  th.-  dav>  of 
our  life.  This  attribute  is  well  expressed  by  the  Psalmist 
when  he  says,  "  He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins." 
How  true  is  this  I  And  then  he  adds  that  very  beautiful 
verse,  I  think  so  touching  —  it  is  the  highest  poetry  —  "As 
a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  doth  the  Lord  pity  them  that 
fear  him."  And  it  is  added,  in  no  less  exquisitely  beautiful 
language,  "  P^or  he  knoweth  our  frame ; "  he  knows  what  a 
frail  thing  it  is,  and  that  our  days  are  as  grass,  and  as  the 
flower  of  the  grass.  He  is  longsull^ering.  Only  do  not  for- 
get that  his  longsutiering  has  limits,  though  we  have  not  yet 
seen  them  ;  those  limits  will  be  for  certain  a  judgment-scat, 
—  they  may  be  sooner  ! 

It  is  added  next,  "'  He  is  abundant  in  goodness."  What 
an  attribute  is  this!  "Where  sin  hath  abounded,  grace 
hath  much  more  abounded."  He  is  not  a  god  that  has 
mercy  and  goodness  as  a  cistern  holds  its  contents,  that  may 
be  soon  emptied ;  but  as  a  fountain  wells  Ibrth  its  refreshing 
w\ater,  inexhaustible,  so  he  is  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth. 

And  he  "  keeps  mercy  for  thousands  ;  "  not  thousands  of 
men,  but  thousands  of  generations.  He  knows  that  they 
will  sin,  but,  how  remarkable  !  he  has  laid  up  a  store  of 
mercy  in  heaven,  just  to  be  drawn  ui)on  by  them  that  sin 
against  him.     He  keeps  mercy  Ibr  a  thousand  generations. 

°And  then  comes  the  climax,  — "  forgiving  iniiiuity.  trans- 
gression, and  sin."  All  sorts  of  sin  — iniquity,  transgres- 
sion, and  sin;  sins  before  conversion,  and  sins  after;  sins 
of  youth,  and  sins  of  old  age;  sins  of  thought,  and  sins  of 
word,  and  sins  of  deed,  "  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression, 
and  sin."  Now,  my  dear  friends,  he  that  at  a  dying  hour 
can  i-ealize  that  Name  in  his  heart  never  will  be  lo^t.  It  is 
'2o* 


294  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  secret  of  pardon,  the  source  of  peace,  the  Avellspring  of 
eternal  jov. 

But  there  are  added  two  clauses  that  need  to  be  ex- 
plained, "  He  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty."  This  looks 
like  a  contradiction,  but  it  really  is  not  so.  He  will  not 
clear  the  guilty  —  that  is,  at  the  judgment-seat,  guilt  will 
not,  in  a  single  instance,  go  unpunished :  if  the  guilt  has  not 
been  visited  and  exhausted  on  the  Substitute,  then  it  will  be 
visited  and  exhausted  on  the  sinner.  It  will  be  seen  to  the 
whole  universe  that  God's  mercy  and  love  are  perfectly 
compatible  with  his  punishing  sin,  his  doing  justly,  his  being 
a  holy  God.  He  wijil  not  clear  the  guilty ;  where  guilt  is 
found,  just  as  sure  as  the  conductor  brings  down  the  light- 
ning from  the  skies  to  the  earth,  so  sure  will  that  guilt  bring 
down  retribution  on  him  on  whose  head  it  rests,  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  Christ. 

Tliere  follows  another  clause,  "  Visiting  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children."  If  this  be  applied  literally 
to  parents  and  children,  then,  in  that  sense,  it  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  theology,  it  is  matter  of  fact.  For  instance,  in  this 
world  it  takes  place  physically ;  a  parent  spends  his  money, 
destroys  his  property,  injures  his  health.  What  is  the 
result?  The  children  suffer  the  consequences  of  it.  Now, 
if  that  be  fact  before  your  eyes,  why  complain,  not  of  the 
creation  of  that  fact,  but  of  the  simple  declaration  of  that 
fact  ?  In  the  next  place,  if  a  parent,  a  nobleman  for 
instance,  is  disloyal,  and  loses  his  coronet,  his  children,  as 
we  know  from  1745  in  Scotland,  become  commoners  ever 
afterwards.  We  see  it  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  when  par- 
ents sin,  children  do  suffer.  But  some  persons  have 
attached  to  this  the  idea  that  children  will  be  punished 
hereafter  for  the  sins  of  their  parents.  This  is  not  true ; 
it  is  not  said ;  but  the  very  reverse  is  said  ;  in  the  book  of 
Ezekiel  we  read,  "  What  mean  ye,  that  ye  use  this  proverb 
concerning  the    land  of  Israel,   saying,  The   fathers   have 


KXODUS    XX  XIV.  295 

eaten  sour  grapes," — that  is,  have  coiuiniiUMl  sin,  —  "ami 
the  children's  teeth,"  inheriting  the  resuhs,  "arc  >»i  on 
edge?  As  I  live,  saith  tlie  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not  have 
occasion  any  more  to  use  this  proverb  in  Israel,  lichold, 
all  souls  are  mine ;  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  al,-o  the 
soul  of  the  son  is  mine  :  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die  ;" 
that  is,  through  everlasting  ages,  each  one  shall  per.-onally 
stand  or  fall  by  what  he  is  personally  by  nature,  or  what  he 
has  been  made  personally  by  grace  ;  and  it  is  not  true  that 
there  is  one  lost  child  in  ruin  that  will  be  able  to  say,  "  I 
am  here,  not  by  my  own  criminality,  but  for  the  evil  that 
my  fathers  have  done."  He  adds,  ''  to  the  third  and  fourth 
generation"  —  not  of  them  that  love  me,  but  of  them  that 
hate  me.  He  visits  the  sins  of  the  fathers  that  hated  him 
jn  past  generations  upon  the  third  and  tburth  generations  of 
them  that  still  hate  ;  for  it  is  they  that  do  as  their  fathers 
did  that  will  thus  be  visited  morally  for  their  fathers' 
offences.  But  all  that  I  have  said  assumes  that  it  means 
parents  and  children.  Now,  I  do  not  think  that  it  really 
does  mean  this ;  I  believe  it  relates  to  rulers,  governors, 
kings,  and  subjects.  Fathers  is  a  common  ex})ression  in  the 
Old  Testament  for  rulers  and  governors.  I  do  not  no\? 
give  instances.  Cruden's  Concordance  will  show  you  that 
it  is  so.  If  our  House  of  Lords  and  House  of  Commons 
and  our  ministry  go  to  war  with  Russia,  justly  or  unjustly, 
what  will  be  the  result  ?  That  our  children  will  have  to 
pay  the  expense  of  it.  Justly,  we  believe,  and  because  it 
was  right,  our  fathers  went  to  war  with  France.  What  is 
the  result?  That  our  taxes  at  this  moment  are  the  result 
of  our  battles ;  and  we,  the  children,  have  to  pay,  and  it  is 
very  proper  that  we  should,  for  the  victories  gained  by  the 
heroism  and  the  chivalry  of  our  forefathers.  You  s.m;, 
then,  that  if  any  thing  occurs  in  the  conduct  of  rulers,  it 
they  cause  war,  or  if  they  do  any  thing  that  is  positively 
wrong,  or  if  they  expend  the  national  revenue,  or  exhaust 


296  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  treasury,  or  squander  the  money  that  belongs  to  the 
nation,  we  find  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  ourselves,  their 
successors,  and  our  children,  must  suffer  for  it ;  and  there- 
fore "sve  have  an  interest  that  our  rulers  in  Parliament 
should  be  in  the  right  way,  not  merely  on  our  own  account, 
but  because  of  our  children's,  and  our  children's  children. 
And  therefore,  well  does  the  apostle  say,  ''  I  will  therefore 
that  prayers  be  offered  for  all  that  are  in  authority,"  —  for 
rulers,  and  for  kings,  and  for  magistrates ;  not,  "  I  will  that 
we  rebel,"  not,  "  I  will  that  we  abuse  them ; "  but  "  I  will 
that  we  pray  for  them."  And  you  may  depend  upon  it, 
earnest  prayer  at  the  throne  of  grace  for  our  representa- 
tives in  Parliament  will  do  them  more  good  than  twenty 
articles  attacking  them  in  the  newspapers.  Let  us  pray, 
therefore,  for  our  rulers  that  God  would  guide  them  to  all 
that  is  right  and  good ;  and  then  we  will  not  fear  for  the 
ultimate  results. 

Having  thus  explained  each  syllable  in  this  glorious 
Name,  let  me  notice,  tliat  in  this  Name  there  is  a  reply  to 
every  objection  that  an  anxious  inquirer  —  that  a  poor,  sin- 
ful, anxious  inquirer  can  possibly  entertain.  If  any  one  in 
this  assembly  say,  "  I  have  no  Christianity  at  all ;  I  do  not 
believe  I  have  the  least  particle  of  the  grace  of  God  in  my 
heart,"  well,  suppose  it  to  be  so ;  his  Name  is  Jehovah,  and 
w^hat  is  the  meaning  of  that?  It  can  create  sometliing  out 
nothing.  So  it  follows  from  this  tliat  you  are  not  beyond 
God's  reach.  But  do  you  say.  It  is  worse  than  that ;  I 
am  not  only  without  grace,  but  I  am  loaded  with  transgres- 
sions, there  "  is  a  law  in  my  members  stronger  than  tjie  law 
of  my  spirit  ?  "  Well,  God's  Name  is  "  the  Lord  God  "  — 
the  Almighty  God ;  and  if  your  heart  be  of  stone,  he  can 
turn  it  into  flesh.  But  perhaps  you  add,  "  But  I  am  a  sin- 
ner :  and  how  can  I,  a  sinful  creature,  draw  near  to  a  holy 
God?"  The  next  syllable  of  his  Name  is  "merciful;"  and 
I  showed  you  that  mercy  is  love  in  contact  with  sin.    "  But," 


EXODUS  xx.xiv.  207 

you  say,  "I  have  notliiiig  to  ijivc  liini  loi-  it  ;  aii.l  if  Im-  be 
merciful,  it'  he  be  niiiijlity,  it' he  be  tlie  Creator  oi"  som»thin*» 
out  of  nothing,  what  ean  I  give  him  for  it  'i  "  The  answer  is, 
his  gifts  are  uiipurchasabh- ;  he  is  "gracious;"  he  saves 
you,  as  he  saved  John  Wiekhli'e  at  the  Kcforuiation,  gratis. 
"But,"  you  say,  "I  liave  sinned  so  long,  that  my  hairs  are 
grown  gray  in  the  service  of  Satan,  and  tlie  world,  and  >in  ; 
and  I  fear  that  by  this  time  God  has  cast  me  olK"  You 
have  yet  another  syllable  of  his  Name  added  —  he  is  "  long- 
sutfering."  "  But,"  you  say,  "I  fear  that  I  have  drawn  uj)on 
his  goodness  so  often,  and  so  much,  and  sinned  and  drawn 
upon  it  again  and  again,  that  I  fear  it  is  ail  exhausted." 
Do  not  be  afraid  of  that  —  he  is  "abundant  in  goodness 
and  truth."  "But  the  world,"  you  add,  "has  lasted  so 
long  —  now  nearly  six  thousand  years,  and  so  many  have 
drunk  at  this  fountain,  that  I  fear  it  has  dried  up."  You 
need  not  be  afraid  of  that :  "  he  keeps  mercy,"  not  for  one 
generation,  but  "  for  thousands  "  of  generations.  "  But," 
you  add,  "  1  have  been  guilty  of  all  sorts  of  sin  —  sins 
against  law,  sins  against  love,  sins  of  thought,  sins  of  word, 
and  sins  of  deed."  Well,  he  ibrgives  all  sorts  of  sin  ; 
"  iniquity,"  —  that  is  one  sort ;  "  transgression,"  —  that  is 
another  sort;  and  "sin,"  —  that  is  a  third  .-ort.  But  if  you 
should  add  still,  "  Is  it  possible  that  such  a  God  can  l)c? 
and  if  this  be  so  clear,  then  will  not  men  sin,  and  j)rcsume 
upon  his  goodness?"  No;  "he  will  not  clear  the  guilty." 
The  sin  must  be  put  away  —  the  love  of  it,  the  condemna- 
tion of  it,  the  pollution  of  it  —  the  sin  must  be  i)ut  away,  or 
you  will  suffer  for  it.  No  man  need  sink  into  that  most  un- 
christian state —  despair  —  who  heai-s  these  sweet  soimds, 
and  on  whose  hearts  there  is  impressed  the  Name  of  the 
Lord.  It  is,  if  there  be  any  difference,  more  wicked  to 
despair,  than  it  is  to  presume ;  neither  is  riglit,  but  despair 
is  infinitely  the  worst :  the  devils  do  not  presume,  but  they 
do  despair. 


298  scRirTURE  readings. 

Having  thus  seen  the  Name,  let  me  explain  to  you,  in 
the  next  place,  where  you  can  behold  it.  Moses  was  told 
by  God  to  go  into  a  cleft  of  the  rock  when  the  Lord  made 
his  glory  to  pass  before  him ;  and  God  says,  even  while  he 
went  into  the  rock,  "  I  will  cover  thee  with  my  hand,  while 
I  pass  by  ;  and  thou  shalt  see  only,"  —  it  might  have  been 
translated  — "  the  skirts  of  my  glory  ;  "  the  mere  parting 
wing,  as  it  were,  of  the  vision  as  it  swept  past.  Now  what 
does  this  show  ?  That  there  would  be  something  in  the  full 
flash  of  God's  glory  that  would  be  altogether  intolerable  to 
man  in  his  present  state.  We  see  more  of  it  than  Moses 
saw.  I  believe  that  the  glory  of  God  is  the  original  arche- 
type of  the  light  that  covers  our  world.  Things  in  this 
world  are  the  shadows  of  things  in  the  heavens ;  and  I 
think  it  is  a  poet  —  or  Plato  —  I  forget  which,  that  made 
this  sublime  remark,  —  The  light  of  noonday  is  the  shadow 
of  God.  What  a  magnificent  thought !  and  so  magnificent 
because  so  true  —  the  meridian  light  is  the  shadow  of  God. 
The  glory  of  God  is  something  real. 

The  New  Jerusalem,  it  is  said,  had  no  need  of  the  light 
of  the  sun  nor  of  the  moon.  Why  —  what  was  the  substi- 
tute ?  "  The  glory  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  was  the  light 
thereof,"  showing  that  this  moral  glory  has  a  splendor  that 
will  light  up  the  universe  till  sun  and  moon  become  as  use- 
less as  a  distant  star  of  the  sixth  magnitude  at  present.  And 
I  believe  that  one  of  the  enjoyments  in  heaven  will  be  see- 
ing God  in  the  way  that  we  have  never  seen  him  before. 
If  God  had  revealed  all  his  glory  —  if  he  had  not  put  the 
shadow  of  his  hand  ujjon  Moses,  if  he  had  not  revealed 
merely  his  skirts,  as  it  were,  as  he  passed  by  —  Moses  would 
have  been  overwhelmed.  And  this  explains  to  you  what  is 
often  said  in  Scripture,  "  No  man  can  see  God  and  live,"  — 
not  because  God  would  destroy  the  man,  but  because  the 
glory  would  be  so  intense  that  it  would  overwhelm  him. 
Moral  grandeur  may  be  over|>owering,  and  we  learn  in  his- 


EXODUS    xxxiv.  209 

tory  that  there  have  been  cases  where  iiKiital  einoti'.u  Iiuh 
struck  dead  the  physical  economy.  Jn  the  time  of  the 
South  Sea  specuhition,  some  thought  tliey  were  so  surf!  of 
making  a  fortune,  that  persons  are  recorded  to  lia\e  dird 
from  joy  in  consequence  of  the  success  they  supposed  to  be 
theirs.  At  the  restoration  of  Cliarles  the  Second,  several 
of  the  nobles  were  so  deliglited  at  the  restoration  of  their 
rank,  their  dignity,  and  their  estates,  that  it  was  too  much 
for  them,  and  they  died  soon  afterwards  from  tjie  shock  they 
had  received.  Pope  Leo  the  Tenth  died  beneatli  the  ex- 
citement of  joy  at  a  battle  which  his  troops  had  gained.  A 
celebrated  American  astronomer  was  watching  the  transit 
of  Venus  over  the  sun's  disk ;  he  believed  that  that  transit 
would  take  place  at  a  specified  moment ;  and  when  he  saw 
the  shadow  of  the  planet  appear  on  the  disk  of  the  sun, 
such  was  his  excitement  or  gratification,  that  he  fainted 
away  from  excess  of  joy.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  so  over- 
come by  the  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  his  discoveries,  or 
of  the  extent  of  What  he  saw  in  consequence  of  the  great 
principle  he  had  laid  down,  that  irom  excess  of  feeling  he 
was  unable  to  carry  out  his  own  grand  calculations,  and 
others  had  to  do  it  for  him.  Now,  if  excess  of  knowledge, 
of  joy,  or  prosperity,  have  these  powerful  effects  uj)on  tiic 
human  frame,  we  can  conceive  that  too  grand  an  apocalypse 
of  God  would  be  unbearable  now  ;  just  as  the  eyeball  would 
be  blinded  by  excess  of  light.  But  you  can  conceive  what 
a  splendor  and  majesty  we  shall  behold  when  we  see  God, 
not  through  a  glass  darkly,  —  the  smoked  glass  or  lens 
through  which  we  look  at  great  brightness,  —  but  we  shall 
see  him  face  to  face.  And  what  a  change  will  have  p:u«sed 
upon  us  when  we  can  bear  to  look  upon  Deity  and  not 
shrink!  The  Apostle  Paul  said  he  was  raisr-d  to  the  third 
heaven,  and  he  saw  sights  that  he  could  not  tell,  that  he 
could  not  speak  of.  And  in  a  beautiful  poem,  where  it 
speaks  of  two  supposed  to  be  admitted  to  heaven,  these 
beautiful  lines  occur,  — 


300  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

"  But  these  were  crushed  with  joy; 
Eeturn,  they  said,  we  cannot  this  sustain." 

There  was  too  much  of  the  glory  visible  for  human  nature 
to  sustain. 

When  this  vision  passed  before  Moses,  not  only  was  the 
shadow  of  God's  hand  laid  upon  him,  but  we  read  that  he 
was  also  placed  in  a  crevice  of  the  rock.  What  that  rock 
was,  we  are  told  very  plainly  and  beautifully  by  the  apostle, 

—  that  rock  was  Christ.  In  creation,  in  its  brightest  Alpine 
peaks,  in  its  spring,  its  summer,  its  autumn,  and  its  winter, 
we  can  only  see  partial  and  imperfect  glimpses  of  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  and  those  which  we  see  are  so  contradictory 
that  we  do  not  know  whether  to  conclude  he  is  our  Father 
or  our  Foe.  In  providence,  again,  there  are  many  perplex- 
ing things  :  we  see  vice  prosper,  virtue  suffer ;  we  see  good- 
ness sad,  cast  down,  depressed  ;  we  see  the  bad  man  happy. 
Now,  if  God  is,  and  acts  in  the  world,  how  is  this  ?  why  is 
this  ?  We  see  sorrow,  suffering,  sick-beds,  death-beds,  graves 

—  is  God  angry  ?  If  he  be  angry,  will  he  condemn  us  all  — 
or  if  he  save  any,  will  he  save  all  ?  Thus  in  creation  and 
in  providence  we  can  see  enough  of  God  to  believe  in  God, 
but  we  cannot  see  enough  of  God  to  let  us  know  what  he 
will  be  to  us  his  creatures.  Again,  if  you  look  at  God  on 
Sinai,  all  there  —  the  blackness,  the  thick  darkness,  the 
thunders  and  the  lightnings  —  indicate  wrath.  In  creation, 
in  providence,  God  is  uncertainty  to  us ;  on  Sinai  God  is 
hostility.  In  the  rock,  in  the  clift  of  the  rock,  in  Christ 
Jesus,  we  see  not  only  his  glory  pass  by,  but  like  an  aureole 
surround  the  head  of  our  blessed  Lord,  in  which  mercy  and 
truth  have  met  together,  and  righteousness  and  peace  have 
kissed  each  other.  When  Jesus  walked  upon  the  waves,  he 
trod  out  glory  in  every  step  ;  when  he  raised  the  dead,  his 
glory  passed  by  ;  when  he  hung  upon  the  cross  his  glory 
burst  forth.  Then  it  passed  with  the  splendor,  but  with  the 
evanescence  of  a  meteor ;  now  it  is  fixed  in  heaven  —  the 


EXODUS    XXXIV.  301 

bright  and  the  morning  star, —  visible  to  all  that  have  an- 
ointed eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear,  and  hearts  to  feel.  Thus 
we  not  only  see  what  Moses  saw,  but  a  great  deal  more. 
He  saw  this  Name  pass  by  under  tiie  shadow  of  (iod's  hand, 
in  the  elefts  of  the  rock;  but  we  see  in  the  Ni'W  T«'staniciit 
revealed  in  Christ  all  that  is  possible  oftli<.'  glory  of  (iod  — 
we  eould  not  bear  more  of  it.  The  veil  is  taken  away  Iroui 
our  faee  whieli  was  upon  the  face  of  Moses,  and  twilight  is 
now  the  noonday. 

Do  we,  let  me  ask,  trust  in  this  Name?  "They  that 
know  thee,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "  will  put  their  trust  in  thee." 
It  is  revealed  not  for  our  admiration,  not  to  satisfy  our  curi- 
osity, but  for  our  apprehension  by  faith,  and  our  trust  in  and 
through  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  How  thankful  should  wc 
be  that  we  have  not  to  discover  it  by  laborious  scare!),  but 
that  it  is  revealed  to  us  from  heaven.  The  Bible  i.>  not  a 
discovery  !  that  man  strikes  out ;  but  a  revelation  that  God 
sends  down.  We  could  not  go  up  to  him ;  he  has  in  his 
mercy  come  down  to  us. 

May  w^e  glory  in  that  Name ;  may  we  rejoice  to  spread 
it;  may  it  be  our  rock,  our  refuge,  and  our  hope,  for  Christ's 
sake !     Amen. 

26 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THE  TABERNACLE.  THE  SABBATH.  VOLUNTARY  OFFERINGS.  ALMS 
IN  KIND  AND  IN  CURRENCY.  SELF-LOVE  AND  SELFISHNESS. 
ZEAL   AND    DEVOTEDNESS. 

The  words  I  have  read,  constitute  strictly  the  preface  to 
the  development  and  completion  of  that  edifice,  which  was 
to  last  whilst  the  Israelites  were  in  the  desert,  and  only  to 
be  superseded  by  the  yet  more  magnificent  and  splendid 
temple  of  Solomon.  You  will  find  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter,  that  the  Sabbath  is  still  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of 
rest  from  any  work,  done  even  in  the  sacred  service  of  the 
Tabernacle  itself.  God  seemed  to  regard  this  day  as  so 
obligatory  upon  each  and  all,  and  so  peculiarly  consecrated 
for  man's  highest  good,  and  for  God's  present  glory,  that  he 
would  not  allow  the  Sabbath  to  be  used  even  in  the  building 
of  that  very  house  which  was  to  be  for  his  worship,  and  the 
assembling  together  of  his  worshippers.  It  was  to  be  still 
a  holy  day ;  a  day  specially  set  apart  for  rest.  The  penalty 
denounced  is  not  a  penalty  that  belongs  to  it  now ;  but  it 
was  peculiar  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed ; 
because  the  least  departure  from  the  discipline  and  organi- 
zation established  by  God  himself  in  the  desert,  would  be, 
not  simply  the  violation  of  a  divine  law  —  in  itself  bad 
enough  —  but  far  worse  than  that ;  it-  must  be  remembered 
that  in  a  theocracy,  where  God  was  visibly  and  audibly 
their  King  and  their  Lord,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 


EXODUS    XXXV.  303 

was  not  merely  in  itself  a  j^r.ind  moral  oljligation,  but  bccamo 
binding  as  an  act  of  allegiance  from  tbeir  peculiar  relation 
to  God  ;  and,  therefore,  the  violation  of  that  <lay  would  be 
so  overt  an  act  of  treason,  and  disloyalty,  and  rebellion,  that 
the  highest  penalty  in  these  circumstances — not  stretching 
into  ours  —  was  attached  to  the  violation  of  it.  The  expres- 
sion in  the  third  verse  has  been  perverted  by  the  dews : 
"Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout  your  habitations  ujion 
the  Sabbath  day."  They  hold  that  this  applied,  at  least  in 
after  ages,  to  private  houses ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  you 
must  interpret  the  text  —  I  can  only  appeal  to  you  as 
reasonable  men,  and  ask  you,  looking  at  the  narrative,  to 
judge  —  as  connected  with  the  subject  that  God  is  s})eaking 
of,  and  Moses  recording.  That  subject  is  the  building  of  a 
tabernacle,  that  required  blacksmiths  and  forges,  and  weav- 
ing, and  embroidering,  and  melting  of  metals,  and  a  great 
amount  of  employment  of  that  kind.  Now,  God  says  :  "Ye 
shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout  your  habitations"  —  that  is, 
yom*  tents  that  are  now  pitched  in  the  desert  —  "on  the 
Sabbath  day."  But  a  fire  here  evidently  means,  a  fire  for 
preparing  metals,  for  building  the  Tabernacle ;  as  he  is 
speaking  of  the  use  of  the  Sabbath  in  connection  with  the 
building  of  the  Tabernacle  ;  and  the  prohibition  here  not  to 
kindle  a  fire  in  their  habitations  on  that  day,  is,  therefore, 
associated  exclusively  with  the  building  of  which  God  is 
speaking;  but  is  not  an  obligation  not  to  kindle  a  fire  to 
prepare  their  ordinary  food  on  the  Sabbath  day,  when  they 
were  settled  permanently. 

AVe  find  Moses  speaking  from  God,  and  commanding  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  name  of  God  to  bring  their  otfer- 
ings.  But  though  it  was  a  command,  they  were  to  bring 
them  with  a  willing  heart.  Moses  tells  them.  You  arc  to 
give  because  it  is  a  duty ;  but  yet  you  arc  to  give,  not  under 
constraint,  —  to  purchase  something,  or  to  atone  for  any 
thing, — but  you  are  to  do  it  with  a  willing  heart,  that  is, 


304  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

spontaneously ;  not  for  show,  or  ostentation,  or  by  constraint. 
I  think  that  when  we  make  collections  in  Christian  congre- 
gations, we  ought  to  do  it  in  the  way  that  will  lead  those 
that  give,  to  give  most  spontaneously.  Any  attempt  to  make 
people  give,  in  order  that  they  may  feel  ashamed  by  not 
giving,  seems  to  me  preposterous,  antichristian,  and  absurd. 
Better  have  the  little  that  comes  from  the  willing  heart,  than 
the  large  sums  which  are  given  by  constraint,  or  from  any 
earthly  or  worldly  motive.  In  this  chapter  you  will  see 
how  strongly  this  is  insisted  upon  ;  they  that  gave,  gave,  it 
is  said,  with  willing  hearts  —  every  one  whom  his  spirit 
made  willing  brought  an  offering  to  the  Lord  —  the  children 
of  Israel  brought  a  willing  offering  to  the  Lord,  every  man 
and  woman.  And  therefore,  if  in  these  circumstances  the 
ecclesiastical  rulers  of  Israel  did  not  dare  to  prescribe,  or 
bid  the  people  give,  on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  a 
willing  heart ;  so,  I  think,  now,  were  the  rulers  of  any 
chui-ch,  whether  Protestant,  or  Romish,  or  Jewish,  to  inspect 
every  man's  income,  to  take  an  inventory  of  every  man's 
property,  to  institute  a  sort  of  inquisition  into  every  man's 
circumstances,  and  to  say  :  "  You  ought  to  give  this  sum  per 
annum  to  support  the  church,  and  you  ought  to  give  that 
sum  per  annum  to  support  missions ; "  it  would  seem  to  me 
most  unscriptural  and  most  unchristian,  and  must  be,  in  its 
effects,  disastrous  to  moral  and  spiritual  character.  If  it  is 
to  be  what  is  called  a  voluntary  system,  let  it  be  so  in  all  its 
freedom  and  in  all  its  influence ;  and  you  may  depend  upon 
it,  wherever  a  heart  is  touched  by  grace,  there  the  hand  will 
be  extended  in  beneficence,  and  men  will  give  largely,  be- 
cause God  has  providentially  given  liberally  and  largely  to 
them. 

In  the  second  place,  every  man  gave  willingly,  not  what 
he  had  not,  but  that  which  he  had.  Some  had  gold,  and 
they  gave  that ;  some  had  silver,  and  they  gave  that ;  some 
had  brass,  and  they  gave  that ;  some  had  linen,  and  they 


EXODUS   XXXV.  305 

gave  tliat ;  some  skins  of  rams,  some  badgers'  skins,  some 
goats',  and  some  could  carve  Avood,  and  cut  stones,  and  do 
all  manner  of  cunning  work,  and  they  gave  that.  Now, 
what  is  implied  by  all  this  ?  There  was  no  money  in  the 
desert ;  there  was  no  representative  currency.  If  there  had 
been  a  currency  established  amid  these  nomade  tribes  of 
Israel,  every  man  would  have  given  his  shilling,  or  his  six- 
pence, or  his  sovereign,  or  whatever  he  chose  to  give  ;  but 
as  they  had  no  money,  they  gave  that  which  money  repre- 
sents ;  each  gave  the  substance  that  he  had,  and  could  give, 
not  being  expected  to  give  that  which  he  could  not.  Now, 
in  so  far,  in  modern  times  it  is  changed.  When  you  give 
to  a  collection  for  the  building  of  a  churcli,  or  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Gospel,  you  do  not  give  badgers'  hair,  and 
goats'  hair,  and  rams'  skins,  and  bracelets,  and  ear-rings ; 
but  you  give  that  which  your  cutting  of  stones,  your  dyeing 
of  skins,  or  weaving  of  fine  linen,  has  enabled  you  to  earn ; 
and  which  is  the  representative,  in  your  position,  of  your 
genius,  your  labor,  your  skill,  your  patience,  your  time,  your 
capital.  Hence  it  is  still  the  same  thing  in  substance,  but 
difierent  in  form ;  ours  the  more  convenient,  theirs  in  the 
desert  the  more  primitive  and  natural. 

In  the  next  place,  you  will  notice  that  the  women,  as  well 
as  the  men,  gave.  This  was  truly  important  and  becoming. 
AYoman  has  a  deeper  interest  in  the  spread  of  real  religion 
in  this  world  than  even  man  :  it  is  to  it  that  she  owes  all 
that  she  is ;  it  is  in  its  reflected  splendor  that  she  shines  so 
beautiful ;  it  is  from  Christianity  that  she  has  borrowed  the 
position  she  now  holds  ;  and  therefore,  when  she  gives  to  the 
spread  and  maintenance  of  true  religion,  she  really  gives  to 
the  assertion  of  her  own  just  position,  and  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  her  dignity  and  her  privileges  amid  mankind.  I 
do  not  say  that  this  ought  to  be  the  only  motive ;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  it  should  come  in.  It  is  very  absurd  of 
people  to  say,  that  we  ought  to  give  without  any  thought  of 
20* 


306  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

self;  I  think  we  ought  to  give  on  every  ground  tliat  is  just 
and  good,  and  in  itself  holy  and  expedient.  Selfishness  is 
sinful,  but  self-love  is  not  sin  ;  on  the  contrary,  ''  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'"  is  a  command  to  love  thyself 
as  thy  neighbor :  and  therefore  self-love  is  not  sinful ;  in  its 
place  it  is  most  subservient  to  good.  But  when  that  self- 
love  degenerates  into  selfishness,  just  as  when  anger  degen- 
erates into  revenge,  then  that  which  was  in  itself  most  holy, 
and  beautiful,  and  right,  becomes  degraded  and  depraved. 
We  may,  therefore,  give  to  the  maintenance  of  religion,  be- 
cause it  benefits  our  country,  because  it  adds  to  our  great- 
ness, because  it  is  a  benefit  and  a  blessing  indirectly  to  our- 
selves :  and  when  we  do  so  from  this  motive,  as  a  sub- 
ordinate one,  we  do  not  do  that  which  is  wrong  In  the  sight 
of  God,  or  reprobated  in  any  part  of  the  Bible. 

And  in  the  last  place,  you  will  notice  the  intense  zeal 
with  which  they  gave.  It  seems  to  remind  one  that  they 
themselves  felt  how  sinfully  they  had  acted  in  the  matter  of 
the  golden  calf,  when  they  made  an  idol,  and  worshipped  it 
instead  of  God ;  and  that  they  were  anxious  —  if  I  may  so 
speak  —  to  compensate  for  the  past  by  greater  devotedness 
for  the  future.  They  redeemed  the  past  by  these  efibrts ; 
reminding  one,  in  the  next  chapter  of  Exodus,  of  what  the 
apostle  says,  while  he  seems  to  have  had  this  history  in  his 
mind,  as  he  wrote :  "  Godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to 
salvation  not  to  be  repented  of:  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world 
worketh  death.  For  behold  this  selfsame  thing,  that  ye  sor- 
rowed after  a  godly  sort,  what  carefulness  it  wrought  in  you, 
yea,  what  clearing  of  yourselves,  yea,  what  indignation,  yea, 
what  fear,  yea,  what  vehement  desire,  yea,  what  zeal,  yea, 
what  revenge  !  In  all  things  ye  have  approved  yourselves 
to  be  clear  in  this  matter."  They  seem,  as  it  were,  to  have 
repented  of  the  ])ast,  and  become  rich  in  good  works  more 
and  more.  Their  liberality  was  so  great,  that  Moses  had 
positively  to  restrict  them,  and  assign  limits  to  the  exercise 


EXODLS    XXXV.  307 

of  it ;  something  in  tlio  same  way  in  wliicli  the  apostle 
speaks  in  the  same  P^pistle  to  the  Corinthians  — ''  How  that 
in  a  great  trial  of  afliiction,  the  ahnndance  of  their  joy  and 
their  deep  poverty  abounded  unto  tlic  riclics  ofthfir  HIhthI- 
ity.  For  to  their  power,  I  bear  record,  yea,  and  beyond 
their  power,  they  were  willing  of  themselves  :  "  showing  us 
how  much  grace  can  do,  where  it  makes  the  heart  willing,  in 
making  the  hand  open,  and  in  seizing  all  the  means  of  glo- 
rifying God,  and  doing  good,  not  by  impulse,  but  with  all 
the  elements  of  progress  and  of  permanence. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

god's  pkescriptions  carried  out.  reasons  for  minute  spec- 
ifications. LIBERALITY  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  RESTRAINT  NEC- 
ESSARY,     god's   WISDOM.  GIVEN    TO   BUILDERS. 

The  chapter  seems  at  first  sight  an  extremely  dry  and 
uninteresting  detail  of  mechanical  arrangements  requisite  in 
the  construction  of  the  Tabernacle,  and  unsuggestive  in 
their  mere  catalogue  of  any  important  personal  and  practi- 
cal lesson.  But  yet  no  doubt  the  object  that  God  had  in  this, 
and  indeed  in  the  chapters  that  follow  onward  to  the  fortieth, 
was  in  all  probability  to  show,  that  the  minute  specifications 
that  he  gave  to  Moses  in  the  previous  chapters  respecting 
the  erection  of  the  Tabernacle,  were  not  carried  out  loosely, 
or  slovenly,  or  in  the  rough,  but  in  the  minutest  jots  and 
particulars,  according  to  all  the  j^attern  that  was  showed  him 
on  the  mount.  It  is,  therefore,  not  altogether  uninstructive 
that  we  should  see  in  our  perusal  of  the  chapter,  that  what- 
ever God  enjoined,  and  however  minute  the  instructions 
that  he  gave,  all  received  their  fulfilment.  We  have  in 
some  parts  of  the  Bible  a  prophecy  :  then,  in  subsequent 
parts,  we  come  to  the  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy.  We  had, 
in  the  previous  part  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  a  precept ; 
and  we  have,  in  the  chapter  we  have  now  read,  the  fulfil- 
ment of  that  precept.  It  is  just  as  important  that  we  should 
see  God's  precepts  carried  out  into  practical  development,  as 
that  we  should  see  God's  prophecies  unfolding  themselves  in 
successive  and  continuous  fulfilment ;  teaching  us,  that 
whatever   God   enjoins,  and   whatever    God   predicts    will 


EXODUS    XXXVI.  309 

be, —  that  heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away,  but  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  shall  not  fall  from  his  word  till  all  be  fuKillcd.  I 
think  I  stated  to  you  on  a  former  occasion,  that  there  was  a 
reason  for  all  these  minute  specifications,  arising  from  the 
fact,  that  this  Tabernacle  was  not  a  mere  tent  in  the  desert 
for  a  place  of  worship,  but  was  prefigurative  of  a  house  not 
made  W'ith  hands,  finding  its  full  accomplishment  and  illus- 
tration in  the  close  of  the  Apocalypse,  where  we  read  of 
God's  temple  being  with  men,  and  the  glory  of  God  and  of 
the  Lamb  filling  it.  I  cannot  believe  that  this  catalogue  of 
minute  details  in  the  mechanical  construction  of  a  taberna- 
cle in  the  desert  was  for  no  pui-pose.  AVe  are  not  to  wring 
out  meaning  from  each  of  these  details  as  if  it  were  a  type; 
but  no  doubt  it  had  an  end  and  an  object,  which  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  future.  And  if  in  that  respect  we  cannot  see 
what  its  ultimate  end  and  object  may  be,  we  are  satisfied  of 
this,  —  these  half-savages,  as  many  of  the  Jews  at  that  mo- 
ment were;  —  a  stifFnecked  and  a  rebellious,  an  uncultivated 
and  an  illiterate  people,  needed  such.  No  wonder  they 
were  sunk  —  they  had  been  slaves  for  forty  years  ;  and 
generally  man  sinks  down  to  the  condition  under  which  he 
is  pressed  and  borne  down  ;  and  they  were  incapable  of 
themselves,  without  divine  instruction,  of  carrying  out  God's 
plan,  or  doing  according  to  his  wmII,  except  from  line  upon 
line,  and  precept  upon  precept.  If  they  had  been  left  to 
fill  up  a  single  niche  after  their  own  taste,  they  would  have 
put  an  Egyptian  idol  in  it ;  if  they  had  been  left  to  do  one 
thing  in- the  construction  of  this  Tabernacle  after  their  own 
taste,  they  would  have  copied  something  from  Egypt.  And 
all  experience  shows,  that  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge  intro- 
duced in  spiritual  and  moral  things,  does  not  stop  there  till 
the  whole  is  rent  asunder.  Such  is  man's  tendency  to  idola- 
try—  such  is  man's  tendency  to  what  is  sensuous  in  wor- 
ship. I  do  not  say,  sensual  —  I  say  sensuous  inworshi|); 
that  is,  to  worship  after  the  senses,  that,  leave  him  the  least 


310  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

latitude,  and  he  is  sure,  even  in  these  more  enlightened 
times,  to  turn  that  liberty  into  licentiousness.  How  much 
more  need,  then,  had  these  nomade  tribes — just  escaped 
from  the  serfdom  of  Egypt  —  of  very  minute,  very  specific 
details,  even  to  pins  and  bolts,  and  tenons  and  taches,  in 
order  to  keep  them  from  what  in  the  end  might  have  led 
them  to  forget  God,  who  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt 
with  a  mighty  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm ! 

Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  had  no  sooner  begun  to  work,  and 
Moses  had  no  sooner  asked  the  people  to  furnish  them  with 
all  the  materials  of  work,  than  all  the  people  vied  one  with 
the  other  in  their  contributions  towards  this  Tabernacle ; 
and  a  fact  was  presented  there  rarely  presented  in  these 
more  modern  times — that  the  liberality  of  the  people  had 
to  be  restrained.  The  constant  tendency,  the  constant  prac- 
tice now,  is  to  excite  the  liberality  of  Christian  people,  by 
showing  them  reasons  for  it ;  but  then,  the  rare  and  beauti- 
ful fact  was  exhibited  of  Moses  being  obliged  to  restrain  the 
liberality  of  the  people,  by  telling  them  that  they  had  given 
more  than  was  amply  sufficient,  and  asking  them  to  contrib- 
ute no  more. 

It  needs  God's  inspiring  wisdom  to  teach  a  man  to  build 
an  earthly  temple,  just  as  it  needs  God's  grace  to  make  a 
builder  of  the  true  temple,  or  to  fit  a  Christian  for  any  of 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  Christian  character. 
God  inspired  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  with  understanding  to 
work  ;  he  inspired  Joshua  with  bravery  and  wisdom  to  fight ; 
he  inspired  Moses  with  instruction  from  on  high  to  lay  down 
plans ;  he  inspired  evangelists  to  write,  apostles  to  preach. 
Every  grace  and  gift  is  from  above,  even  from  the  Father 
and  Fountain  of  all  wisdom  and  of  all  light.  The  word 
"  wise-hearted,"  applied  to  those  that  worked,  corresponds 
more  properly  to  another  word  now  employed ;  w^e  say,  a 
"  skilled  laborer,"  meaning  one  who  is  not  only  a  clever 
laborer,  but  one  who  knows  the  subject  of  the  work,  or  trade, 
or  handicraft,  in  which  he  is  employed. 


CHAPTER     XXXVII. 

KEASOKS  OF  RECORDS  OF  MINUTE  WORKS.  TABERNACLE  FURNI- 
TURE. THE  ARK.  THE  MERCY-SEAT.  THE  SHECHINAH.  EARTH 
RELATED  TO  OTHER  ORBS.  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST  NOT  TIED  FOR 
EVER  TO  A  LAND.  CANDLESTICK.  CHRIST  THE  IIIGH-rKIEST 
IN   THE   HOLY   OF   HOLIES.      SKILL   OF   ISRAELITES. 

You  will  remember  what  I  stated  in  the  course  of  my 
reading  the  previous  chapter —  that  the  36th  to  the  39th 
chapters  of  the  book  that  we  have  so  nearly  gone  over  in 
successive  lessons,  contain  the  fulfilment  of  all  that  Moses 
was  commanded  in  the  previous  chapters  to  do ;  and  in  these 
last  portions  of  the  book  we  have  the  historical  record  that 
he  did  exactly  as  he  was  commissioned  by  God.  The  rea- 
son why  so  minute  and  elaborate  details  are  given  in  these 
chapters  seems  to  be  to  show  to  us  that  Moses  carried  out 
exactly,  rigidly,  and  minutely,  every  order  that  he  received  ; 
not  determining  in  his  own  mind,  "  This  is  not  important, 
and  therefore  I  may  omit  it,"  —  and  "  that  is  important,  and 
therefore  I  must  do  it ; "  but  acting  rigidly  and  strictly,  ac- 
cording to  the  pattern  that  was  showed  him  on  the  mount, 
and  the  prescriptions  set  forth  by  God.  This  chapter,  like 
those  that  succeed  it,  records  the  fiict  that  Moses  did  so. 

I  explained  many  of  the  institutions  and  contents  of  the 
tabernacle,  which  was  typical  of  a  greater  and  a  more  glori- 
ous one,  in  our  readings  on  previous  chapters.  In  this  one, 
it  is  recorded  of  Bezaleel  and  those  who  assisted  him  in  the 
work,  that  they  made  first  of  all  the  ark,  and  the  mercy-seat 
that  was  on  it,  and  the  cherubim  that  overshadowed  it.  Taul 


312  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

says,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  that  Christ  Jesus  is  our 
propitiation,  as  it  is  rendered  in  our  transhition  ;  it  is  in  the 
original,  "  our  mercy-seat."  And  were  there  not  there  this 
special  allusion,  there  are  other  reasons  for  concluding  that 
this  ark,  with  its  golden  lid,  and  the  glory,  or  the  shechinah, 
or  bright  effulgence  that  rested  upon  it  perpetually,  was  a 
type  and  a  symbol,  in  its  place  and  in  its  measure,  of  Christ 
Jesus,  our  only  Atonement.  In  the  ark,  it  says,  were  the 
tables  of  the  Law,  which  represented  the  Law  magnified 
and  honored  in  Christ  Jesus.  Over  the  ark,  there  was  the 
golden  lid,  on  which  there  rested  that  glory  which  was 
called  the  shechinali  —  to  teach  us  that  mercy,  and  truth, 
and  righteousness,  and  peace  —  the  true  shechinah,  the  true 
glory  of  God  —  are  illustrated,  and  brought  together,  and 
made  real,  in  our  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus. 

We  read  that  over  this  mercy-seat  were  the  cherubim, 
whose  faces  were  toward  each  other,  the  tips  of  whose  wings 
touched  over  the  glory  ;  to  denote  the  interest  that  the  in- 
habitants of  other  worlds  feel  in  the  grand  transactions  that 
are  being  consummated  in  this ;  that  into  these  things,  so 
wonderful,  angels  desire  to  gaze.  And  this  is  perhaps  a  faint 
hint  or  lesson  of  that  great  truth,  that  this  orb  of  ours  in 
which  we  live  —  physically  so  small,  among  the  least  of  the 
great  orbs  of  the  universe  —  is  morally  the  most  important 
of  them  all ;  that  it  is,  in  fact,  the  lesson  book  of  God's 
great  universe  —  the  world  at  which  other  worlds  look  in 
order  to  learn  what  they  cannot  learn  except  in  the  Atone- 
ment—  how  just,  how  holy,  how  merciful,  how  loving,  how 
glorious  God  is.  Now  these  cherubim  gazed  upon  this  glory 
whilst  their  wings  touched  each  other  ;  as  if  to  denote  the 
perfect  unity  that  exists  among  them. 

We  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  this  ark,  with  all  its 
beauty  and  its  glory,  and  its  exhibition  of  great  truths,  was 
not  a  fixture  —  it  had  rings  in  it,  and  staves  in  it  for  remov- 
ing.    This  teaches  us  that  the  Gospel  is  not  given  to  any 


EXODUS    XXXVII.  313 

nation  a  perpetual  fixture.  The  seven  Churches  of  Asia 
were  once  the  most  illustrious  of  Christendom  —  now  scarce 
a  vestige  of  their  glory  remains.  Other  lands  have  had  ihc 
Gospel  just  as  we  have  it,  but  God  in  judgment  removed  it ; 
and  we  have  the  ark  in  the  midst  of  us  now,  but  it  dcptMids 
upon  us  —  how  we  are  thankful  for  it,  what  use  we  make  of 
it,  how  far  we  sacrifice  to  make  known  the  treasures  it  con- 
tains —  whether  it  shall  remain  in  the  midst  of  us  or  not. 
The  candlestick  is  movable,  the  ark  had  rings  and  staves 
in  it,  and  was  movable  also.  The  Gospel  in  a  country  is 
given  not  for  misuse,  not  for  abuse,  but  for  daily,  sanctify- 
ing, practical  usefulness  in  the  midst  of  us  —  if  it  tail  to 
produce  these,  it  takes  its  departure. 

We  have  a  description  of  the  candlestick,  which  was 
formed  also  of  gold,  and  consisted  of  seven  branches.  Now 
recollect,  in  what  was  called  "the  holy  of  holies"  in  the 
tabernacle  —  and  tliere  was  the  very  same  distinction  in  the 
temple  that  superseded  the  tabernacle  —  there  was  no  win- 
dow to  admit  the  light  of  heaven.  The  only  light  where 
the  high-priest  went  once  a  year  was  the  light  of  the  golden 
candlestick  in  the  midst  of  it;  and  this  golden  candlestick 
was  therefore  given  to  be  put  into  that  place.  We  read  that 
when  Christ  died,  the  vail  of  the  temple  was  rent.  Now 
that  was,  I  think,  one  of  the  most  significant  facts  in  the 
Bible;  for  it  taught  us  this  —  that  now  there  is  no  distinc- 
tion; the  chancel  end  and  the  nave  end  are  exactly  the 
same ;  there  is  no  rood  screen  to  separate  the  clergy  from 
the  people,  the  priesthood  from  the  laity.  All  true  Chris- 
tians are  priests  unto  God;  all  have  the  same  right  of 
access  to  God ;  all  can  ai)proach  equally  near  to  God  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  and  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  has  ceased  to 
be  a  priest,  because  a  priest  has  nothing  left  to  do ;  he  is 
simply  a  teacher,  a  pastor,  an  evangelist,  an  overseer,  a 
presbyter,  or  if  there  be  any  other  equally  expressive  and 
Scriptural  phrase. 

27 


314  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Into  this  holy  of  holies,  we  are  told,  the  high-priest  went 
once  a  year,  and  not  without  blood.  We  are  told  now  that 
our  great  High-Priest  has  entered  into  the  true  holy  place, 
and  we  know  that  all  the  time  he  is  there  he  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  us.  The  lesson  taught  by  that  inci- 
dent is  a  very  beautiful  one.  The  high-priest  first  made 
atonement  without,  upon  the  brazen  altar;  secondly  he 
went  into  the  holy  of  holies,  not  without  blood,  with  the 
names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  upon  his  breastplate, 
making  intercession  for  them.  Thirdly,  the  people  waited 
outside,  judging  by  the  sound  of  the  bells  upon  his  robe 
whether  he  was  living  or  not,  and  accepted  or  not.  And 
then  the  high-priest,  having  finished  the  intercession,  came 
out  of  the  most  holy  place,  and  pronounced  the  benediction 
upon  the  people,  "  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee." 
See  Numb.  vi.  22-27.  This  exactly  corresponds  to  our 
Lord.  He  made  the  sacrifice  without ;  he  hatli  finished 
transgression,  made  an  end  of  sin  ;  no  more  atonement  is 
needed,  no  more  can  be,  no  more  has  been  since.  Secondly, 
he  has  gone  now  into  the  true  holy  place,  where  he  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us.  And  thirdly,  we  the 
people  are  waiting  outside,  where  the  suffering  once  was, 
looking  for  the  return  of  our  great  High-Priest  from  the 
holy  place  not  made  with  hands,  to  pronounce  upon  earth 
and  upon  all  its  people  a  blessing  that  will  make  its  very 
deserts  rejoice,  and  its  most  solitary  places  to  blossom  even 
as  the  rose.  That  is  our  position  at  the  present  moment,  or 
as  it  is  expressed  in  Scripture,  looking  for  the  glorious  ap- 
pearing of  Jesus  Christ,  our  God  and  Saviour. 

In  speaking  of  this  I  may  notice  that  it  has  been  doubted 
here,  where  it  is  said  that  "  he  made  the  candlestick  of  pure 
gold,"  whether  that  meant  that  this  was  a  candlestick  of 
gold,  or  whether  it  means  that  it  was  gilt.  It  has  been 
thought  by  some  that  it  meant  gilding,  and  that  gilding  was 
an  art  well  known  to  the  Egyptimis,  and  would  naturally, 


EXODUS  xxxvir.  315 

therefore,  be  known  to  the  Isnielites.  It  has  also  been  said 
by  some,  How  could  these  nomadic  tribes  just  escaped  from 
the  brickkihis  of  Egypt  —  how  could  they,  being  wander- 
ers in  the  desert,  find  all  this  gold  and  silver?  The  answer 
to  that  is  that  they  carried  with  them  immense  treasures  out 
of  Egypt;  in  the  language  of  tlie  passage  that  describes  it, 
it  is  said  that  "  they  spoiled  the  P^gyptians."  And  these 
treasures  that  they  thus  carried  with  them  out  of  Egypt 
were  devoted  to  the  service  of  God. 

And  then  the  other  question,  how  they  could  be  sup- 
posed to  know  it ;  the  answer  is  a  very  easy  one ;  God 
raised  up  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab,  and  other  wise-hearted 
men  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  inspired  to  do  it.  Artisanship 
requires  the  teaching  of  God's  Spirit  just  as  much  as  Chris- 
tianity. "VYe  ought  to  give  to  God  the  glory  of  a  gifted 
intellect  as  well  as  the  glory  of  a  gracious  heart.  From  him 
coraeth  down  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift  —  from  the 
tiniest  light  to  the  blaze  of  meridian  day;  and  to  him  we 
should  give  the  glory  of  all  that  we  are  individually,  that 
we  are  nationally,  and  that  we  hope  to  be  when  time  shall 
be  no  more. 


CHAPTER    XXXYIII. 

CONTINUATION    OF    INVENTORY   OF    THE    TABERNACLE.      WEALTH   OF 
THE    ISRAELITES.      LOOKING-GLASSES. 

This  is  just  the  continuation  of  the  catalogue,  to  us  the 
apparently  dry  and  uninteresting  inventory  of  temple  goods, 
which  began  two  chapters  before,  and  is  continued  onward 
to  the  close  of  this,  and  almost  of  the  next  chapter  also.  It 
is  the  minute  description  of  Moses  fulfilling  in  fact  those 
precepts  which  God  had  most  minutely  given  for  the  con- 
struction of  tliat  edifice  which  was  meant  to  be  a  type  in 
its  place  of  the  tem])le ;  and  the  temple  again,  as  we  shall 
.  see,  the  type  and  symbol  of  a  yet  more  glorious  edifice  —  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  It  is 
impossible  to  suppose  that  God  gave  such  minute  directions 
for  the  erection  of  tliis  tabernacle,  if  it  was  to  be  an  ulti- 
mate thing,  destitute  of  any  prospective  reference,  without 
typical  or  symbolical  import.  The  minutics,  therefore,  con- 
tained in  the  inventory  that  is  here  given  —  and  those 
minutice  done  in  answer  to  God's  express  command  —  indi- 
cate to  us  that  there  was  something  deeper  in  it  than  we 
see,  and  that  it  had  a  prospective  reference  which  we  on 
whom  the  ends  of  the  world  have  come,  can  now  very 
readily  and  very  distinctly  understand.  I  stated  before 
that  the  reason  why  all  these  tilings  are  so  minutely  reca- 
pitulated liere  is  to  show  to  us  that  Moses  performed,  by 
himself,  or  by  the  instrumentalities  he  employed,  exactly 


EXODUS   XXXVIII.  317 

and  minutely  every  order,  however  great  or  however  small, 
that  God  hud  given  him  on  the  mount. 

The  tabernacle,  thougli  a  Irail,  must  have  been  a  very 
splendid  thing.  The  wealth  that  was  consumed  or  em- 
ployed in  the  decoration  of  it  was  immense.  It  has  been 
calculated,  on  the  most  just  and  accurate  grounds,  that  the 
amount  of*  gold  jind  silver  alone  employed  in  the  decoration 
of  the  tabernacle,  must  have  been  worth  something  near  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  pounds  sterling.  1  know  it  will  be 
objected,  How  could  these  tribes  of  slaves,  refugees  from 
the  brickkilns  of  Egypt,  have  got  so  much  gold?  The 
answ^er  is,  that  they  went  out  with  great  riches  from  Egypt; 
and  Egypt  —  the  wealthiest  land,  then,  in  the  world  — 
gave  them  her  treasures,  and  were  too  thankful  to  give 
them  ;  some  in  order  to  get  rid  of  them,  others  in  gratitude 
and  obligation  that  they  felt  to  them  for  the  benelits  they 
had  left  behind  them.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  they 
carried  immense  wealth  with  them.  And  when  you  recol- 
lect that  this  marching  column  that  crossed  the  Red  Sea, 
that  traversed  all  the  windings  and  the  sinuosities  of  that 
intricate  desert,  amounted,  men,  and  women,  and  children, 
to  a  population  nearly  equal  to  that  of  London  —  nearly 
three  millions  —  having  about  seven  hundred  thousand  men 
in  the  midst  of  it  able  to  bear  arms  and  able  to  work,  you 
can  see  at  once  what  a  magnificent  procession  it  was,  what 
immense  possessions  —  having  each  gone  out  enriched  from 
Egypt  —  they  must  have  had ;  and  how  easily  it  was  possi- 
ble for  them  to  execute  all  the  orders  here  given  ;  partly 
from  the  multiplicity  of  hands,  —  for  every  one  knows  that 
things  are  best  done  when  each  has  his  own  jiart ;  and 
when  the  part  assigned  to  him  is  very  small,  he  is  able  to 
expend  more  care  on  it,  and  the  result  is  the  more  satis- 
factory. 

In  the  next  place,  there  is  an  expression  that  occurs  in 
the  8th  verse  that  looks  like  contradiction,  and  requires  to 
27* 


318  SCIUPTURE   READINGS. 

be  explained.  It  says,  "  He  made  the  laver  of  brass,  and 
the  foot  of  it  of  brass,  of  the  looking-ghisses  of  the  women." 
Now  if  these  were  made  of  ghiss,  how^  could  they  be  turned 
into  brass,  or  gold,  or  silver  ?  The  truth  is,  our  translators 
have  used  "  looking-glass  "  as  the  popular  phrase  to  denote 
something  that  reflects  the  likeness  of  the  human  counte- 
nance. We  are  so  accustomed,  for  instance,  to  speak  of  a 
mile-stone  on  a  turnpike-road,  that  you  may  hear  persons 
say,  if  a  wooden  post  were  substituted,  "  That  is  a  wooden 
mile-stone."  It  is  in  itself  a  contradictory  expression ;  it 
cannot  be  wood  if  it  be  stone  ;  but  we  are  so  accustomed  to 
use  the  material  out  of  which  it  was  originally  made  as 
representative  of  the  thing  itself,  that  when  that  material  is 
changed  we  keep  up  the  old  name,  even  at  the  risk  of  per- 
petrating a  very  palpable  contradiction.  So  here,  our  trans- 
lators are  so  accustomed  to  think  of  a  mirror  as  made  of 
glass,  that  when  speaking  of  a  mirror  they  have  called  what 
was  not  glass  "  a  looking-glass,"  when  glass  was  not  invented 
or  thought  of  The  right  translation  would  have  been  better 
—  not  better,  perhaps,  only  it  would  have  avoided  the  ap- 
pearance of  absurdity  if  it  had  been  rendered,  "  He  made 
the  laver  of  brass,  and  the  foot  of  it  of  brass,  of  the  mirrors 
of  the  women  assembling,  which  assembled  at  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  These  mirrors  were 
small  things,  something  of  the  size  of  an  ordinary  fan,  with 
a  handle ;  made  first  of  all  of  copper,  then  of  brass,  some 
of  them  of  gold,  but  ultimately  almost  universally  of  polished 
silver ;  occasionally  of  polished  steel,  but,  owing  to  the  sus- 
ceptibility of  steel  to  rust,  the  silver  was  preferred.  In 
South  America  they  have  discovered  very  ancient  mirrors, 
highly  pohshed,  made  of  stones  —  a  kind  of  pyrites,  and 
some  other  stones  suited  for  that  purpose.  From  a  very 
early  period  such  w^ere  introduced.  According  to  Milton, 
Eve  had  none ;  but  she  made  the  sweet  crystal  streamlet 
her  mirror,  the  most  primitive  of  all ;  but  soon  after  the 


EXODCS    XXXVIII.  319 

Fall  mirrors  were  introduced,  and  the  Fiibstance  they  were 
almost  universally  made  of  was  silver,  with  a  highly  pohshed 
surface.  These  mirrors,  which  the  women  used  who  as- 
sembled at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle — partly  as  deacon- 
esses, or  Levites,  or  watchers  —  were  cheerfully  surrendered 
by  them,  though  very  dear  to  them,  in  order  to  form  the 
laver  in  which  the  priests  washed  when  they  entered  to  offer 
sacrifice,  and  the  other  instruments  that  were  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle. 

I  stated  that  all  the  gold  and  silver  that  was  here  em- 
ployed was  of  very  great  value  and  amount ;  and  that  the 
tabernacle,  though  a  temporary  thing,  must  have  been 
really  a  very  beautiful  and  splendid  creation  ;  inferior,  of 
course,  to  the  temple  that  succeeded ;  and  that  temple  in- 
ferior still  to  that  true  temple  —  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  built  of  living  stones. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


DETAILS  OF  THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE. 

Scarcely  a  single  remark  remains  to  be  made  on  the 
chapter  —  or  the  epitome  of  the  construction  of  the  taber- 
nacle—  which  I  have  not  made  in  the  course  of  my  expo- 
sitions of  what  must  seem  very  monotonous  details  merely 
when  adopted  as  instructive  reading  for  a  Christian  congre- 
gation. But  all  this,  however,  had  its  value  ;  and  you  will 
notice  in  this  chapter  that,  at  the  close  of  every  account  of 
every  thing  that  they  performed,  there  is  added  a  clause 
which  shows  how  minutely  they  carried  out  the  commands 
of  God  —  "  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses."  At  the  close 
of  every  separate  branch  you  find  that  clause  added  ;  to 
denote  that  what  God  commanded  minutely,  they  performed 
minutely,  to  the  very  letter.  We  have  evidence  in  this 
chapter  that  engraving  of  stones  had  made  very  great  pro- 
gress, even  at  that  early  period  of  the  world's  history.  And 
it  is  remarkable  enough,  that  some  of  the  engraved  stones 
and  jewels  of  ancient  and  pagan  nations  are  so  exquisitely 
beautiful,  that  our  masters  in  the  art  have  not  been  able  to 
reach  the  perfection  of  other  days. 

It  does  seem,  however,  rather  remarkable  that  these 
tribes,  who  had  been  slaves  in  Egypt,  should  be  able  to  en- 
grave the  delicate  and  difficult  tracery  that  was  required 
upon  the  precious  stones  —  the  diamond,  the  topaz,  the  car- 
buncle, and  others  —  on  which  were  recorded  the  names  of 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  —  there  being  twelve  stones,  and 


EXODUS   XXXIX.  321 

each  stone  having  the  name  of  a  tribe ;  all  on  the  breast- 
plate of  the  high-priest,  when  lie  went  to  make  intercession 
for  the  people  in  the  holy  of  holies. 

You  will  notice,  again,  that  a  great  many  of  the  robes 
were  made  of  pure  linen.  And  this  figure  is  evidently 
employed  in  the  Apocalypse,  when  the  question  is  a.-ked, 
"  What  are  these  which  are  arrayed  in  white  robes  ?  and 
whence  came  they  ?  "  And  in  another  place  he  speaks  of 
"linen  white  and  clean,  which  is  the  righteousness  of 
saints  "  —  evidently  showing  that  the  white  robes  of  the 
priests  were  typical  of  those  moral  robes  which  the  priests 
and  kings  unto  God  shall  wear  for  ever  and  ever,  where 
they  serve  him  in  his  tabernacle  —  the  true  tabernacle  — 
without  ceasing. 

After  all  the  details  of  the  completion  of  the  workman- 
ship of  the  tabernacle,  we  read  that  Moses  inspected  the 
whole,  as  the  master-mind,  pronounced  it  to  be  satisfactory 
when  compared  with  the  precept  of  God,  and  pronounced 
upon  the  people  that  blessing  which  he  could  utter  in  word, 
but  which  God  impressed  upon  the  hearts  of  all,  as  he  still 
impresses  upon  the  hearts  of  those  that  truly  obey  him. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

CLOSE  OF  EXODUS.  SCRIPTURAL  FORMS.  KOMISII  RITES  SUPPOSE 
THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  NOT  WRITTEN.  ALTARS.  OILS.  HOLY 
WATER.      TYPE    OF   A   PROTESTANT    CHURCH. 

AYe  arrive,  in  the  chapter  I  have  read,  at  the  close  of 
one  of  the  most  deeply  interesting  Books  in  the  whole  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  If  this  Book  were  ex- 
punged from  the  annals  of  the  history  of  the  world,  we 
should  have  lost  the  most  striking  and  impressive  proofs  of 
the  providential,  the  gracious,  and  the  merciful  government 
of  God.  We  have  read  in  chapter  after  chapter,  till  it 
seemed  almost  bordering  on  the  wearisome,  minute,  and 
specific  details  of  Moses  fulfilling  the  minute  and  specific 
commands  of  God  in  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle.  But 
I  have  told  you  before,  that  so  minute  specifications  must 
have  shown  some  ulterior  end,  or  they  would  not  have  been 
given.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  the  God  who  gave 
that  magnificent  revelation  of  himself — most  magnifi-cent 
in  thought,  magnificent  in  word  —  the  Ten  Commandments, 
could  have  descended  to  give  the  petty  details  contained  in 
these  chapters,  if  those  details  were  ultimate  and  final 
things.  We  must,  therefore,  infer,  as  indeed  we  shall  see, 
that  all  these  had  a  distinctly  typical  import,  and  were  the 
rudiments  and  the  foreshadows  of  great,  and  blessed,  and 
glorious  things  to  come. 

In  the  next  place,  you  will  notice  here,  that  if  any 
modern  church  were  to  be  built  after  the  type  and  model  of 


EXODUS   XL.  32'3 

this  tabernacle,  or  after  the  tyye  and  model  of  its  more  per- 
manent development  —  the  temple,  it  would  in  one  sense, 
the  builder  might  say,  be  most  scriptural;  for  lie  could 
quote  all  these  texts,  and  say,  "  Here  is  an  order  for  a 
golden  altar,  and  an  order  for  a  brazen  altar ;  an  order  for 
holy  water  to  wash  in  ;  an  order  for  anointing  oil  to  be  an 
unction ; "  and  he  would  really  seem  to  have  Scripture 
thoroughly  upon  his  side :  but  then,  it  would  be  Scripture 
on  his  side  not  looked  at  in  the  light  of  the  rest  of  Scrip- 
ture. If  you  tear  a  text  from  its  context  you  may  prove 
any  thing  upon  earth,  because  you  treat  Scripture  in  a  way 
you  would  not  treat  an  Act  of  Parliament,  a  law,  or  a  legal 
document  of  any  sort.  You  must  read  every  passage  of 
Scripture  in  connection  with  and  in  the  light  of  passages 
that  directly  and  distinctly  refer  to  it.  So,  when  you  read 
Exodus,  which  you  ought  to  read,  be  sure  to  read  it  with 
commentaries,  if  you  like ;  because  commentaries  are  most 
useful  when  you  use  them  as  helps,  and  not  as  substitutes ; 
though  there  is  a  wide  distinction  between  the  two.  But 
when  you  read  Exodus,  read  it  especially  with  the  inspired 
commentary  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  lying  beside  it; 
and  you  will  see  from  that  Papistic  that  a  Christian  church 
after  the  model  of  the  ancient  tabernacle  would  be  in  the 
letter  most  scriptural,  but  in  fact  most  unscriptural  and  anti- 
christian ;  because  all  these  things  have  here  had  their  ful- 
filment; and  when  the  antitype  comes,  the  type  disappears; 
when  the  sun  rises,  the  stars  retreat ;  when  the  fruit  is  ripe, 
the  blossom  withers  and  falls  away.  The  end  and  the 
object  of  this  institute  is  come,  and  to  keep  it  up  still  is  to 
try  to  expunge  two  thousand  years  or  three  thousand  years 
from  the  world's  history,  and  to  try  to  make  ourselves  Jews 
in  the  Christian  and  New  Testament  dispensation.  Now 
this  was  the  great  blunder  that  misled  a  late  most  excellent 
minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  embraced  Koman- 
ism.     He  took  the  Books  of  Exodus  and  Leviticus,  and  he 


324  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

assumed  that  all  this  was  the  description  of  something  that 
still  should  be ;  and,  doing  so,  he  naturally  landed  in  a 
church  which  certainly  is  the  nearest  approach  in  its  out- 
ward details  to  the  Levitical  church  —  namely,  the  church 
of  Rome.  It  has  incense  altars ;  it  has  sacrificing  altars ; 
it  has  anointing  oil  for  extreme  unction ;  it  has  holy  water 
to  be  sprinkled  with  when  you  enter ;  it  has  vestments  and 
robes  of  the  richest  kind  and  texture  for  the  priests ;  it  has 
candles  burning  in  the  chancel,  as  the  seven  candles  burned 
in  the  holy  of  holies.  Nothing  is  more  scriptural  than  the 
forms  of  the  Romish  church  in  the  letter,  and  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  New  Testament  was  never  written ;  but 
admit  the  fact  of  a  New  Testament,  and  there  is  an  end  to 
its  claims  and  its  pretensions  altogether;  for  these  things 
are  all  fulfilled  by  our  Blessed  Lord.  For  instance,  the 
altar  of  brass  on  which  sacrifices  were  offered  is  now  lost  in 
what  is  called  by  the  apostle,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
the  true  altar  —  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  for  ever.  Then  propitiatory  sacrifices  are  now  done 
away,  for  the  simple  reason  that  a  perfect  sacrifice  has  been 
offered  —  a  sacrifice  whose  merits  fill  all  time,  and  conse- 
crate all  space ;  and  so  perfect  that  it  needs  not  to  be 
offered  year  by  year  in  order  to  do  what  the  Levitical  sacri- 
fices could  not  do  ;  so  perfect  that  it  is  as  available  eighteen 
hundred  years  after  it  has  been  offered,  as  if  it  had  been 
offered  this  very  day.  We  do  not  want  these  sacrifices  ; 
the  end  of  them  is  come ;  the  perfection  of  them  is  ar- 
rived ;  they  lose  their  place,  they  cease  to  be  appropriate, 
because  that  which  they  were  meant  to  foreshadow  is  come; 
and  now  Aaron,  and  Moses,  and  Levi,  disappear,  and  lose 
their  function,  their  mission,  and  their  office,  in  the  splendor 
of  the  appearance  of  that  Great  Iligh-Priest,  who,  by 
one  sacrifice,  offered  once  for  all,  has  redeemed  the 
souls,  and  forgiven  the  sins  of  all  that  believe  in  his  blessed 
name. 


EXODUS   XL.  325 

So,  in  the  same  manner,  the  anointing  oil  now  used  for 
extreme  unction  in  the  Romish  church  —  the  apostle  says, 
There  is  an  end  of  that.  He  says,  "  Ye  "  —  speaking  to 
Christians;  not  to  ministers,  but  speaking  to  Christians,  and 
speaking  —  what  would  shock  those  that  are  offended  at  the 
laity  being  supposed  to  have  any  place  in  God's  house  at  all 
—  to  the  elect  laity,  he  says,  "  Ye  have  an  unction  from  the 
Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things  ; "  and  that  unction  is  ex- 
plained to  be  the  Holy  Spirit.  Therefore  we  have  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  anoint  our  hearts  ;  we  do  not  want  Aaron's  oil  to 
anoint  our  heads.  AVe  have  the  true  unction,  and  the  type 
disappears  when  the  antitype  arrives. 

So  again,  washing  with  water  before  they  entered  into 
the  sanctuary.  David  had  a  clear  apprehension  of  what 
was  the  meaning  of  that  when  he  says,  "  I  will  wash  mine 
hands  in  innocency ;  so  will  I  compass  thy  altar,  O  Lord  ; " 
showing  that  he,  even  in  his  day,  a  prince  upon  his  throne, 
looked  beyond  the  material  symbol,  and  saw  the  moral  sig- 
nificance of  that  symbol  in  the  pure  hand  and  the  clean 
heart,  as  the  best  preparation  for  the  worship  and  the  ser- 
vice of  God.  And  thus  you  will  see  that  all  these  insti- 
tutions of  Levi  and  of  Aaron  had  a  distinct  and  definite  re- 
lation to  a  future  thing ;  and  the  Jews  and  the  Israelites  of 
that  day  —  the  more  spiritual  amongst  them  —  saw  along 
the  vista  of  many  thousand  years,  and  like  Abraham  rested 
not  on  the  material  symbol,  but  saw  Christ's  day,  and  whilst 
they  saw  it  they  rejoiced. 

And  now,  in  this  chapter  we  have  the  tabernacle  finished 
and  complete,  with  all  its  furniture  and  apparatus  for  wor- 
ship, according  to  the  command  of  God.  I  believe  there  is 
wanted  —  and  I  think  I  have  taken  the  opportunity  to  say 
so  before  —  still  in  modern  times  the  true  type  of  a  truly 
Protestant  church.  What  are  called  the  mediaeval  cathedrals 
of  Europe  are  most  appropriate  to  Roman  Catholic  service  : 
nothing  can  be  more  tit.  I  admire  their  beauty,  I  can  ap- 
28 


326  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

preciate  their  magnificence  and  grandeur  ;  as  mere  appea,l3 
to  wliat  is  sensuous  and  tasteful  in  man  nothing  can  be  more 
triumphant  than  the  very  stones  seeming  to  blossom  and  to 
shape  themselves  into  every  thing  that  is  beautiful.  They 
are  most  appropriate  Avhere  there  is  a  sacrificial  altar  in  the 
east  end  ;  where  there  are  processions  in  honor  of  the 
Virgin,  of  stoled  and  white-robed  priests,  the  nave  that  will 
hold  a  large  multitude,  of  great  dimensions  and  of  great 
length,  and  where  side-chapels  for  the  saints  are  used,  and 
where  there  are  transepts  —  nothing  can  be  more  appro- 
priate ;  they  are  exactly  fitted  for  these.  But  when  you  go 
into  some  vast  and  noble  cathedral  in  England,  you  find 
that  there  is  service  only  in  one  end,  and  that  three  fourths 
of  the  cathedral  are  merely  turned  into  a  sort  of  museum, 
or  a  place  for  monuments,  which  are  the  mementos,  and  so 
far  appropriate,  of  great  and  illustrious  men.  But  still  that 
shows  that  they  are  not  fitted,  and  were  not  meant,  for  our 
service.  The  only  attempt  to  take  possession  of  them  is  in 
Scotland,  where  they  make  the  nave  into  one  parish  church, 
and  the  choir  into  another  parish  church ;  and  thus  out  of 
one  Romish  church  they  make  two  good  Protestant  churches. 
But  it  is  quite  plain  to  me  that  these  are  not  the  proper 
edifices.  And  so  remarkable  is  this,  that  a  very  distin- 
guished Northern  divine,  very  noted  for  his  ultra  notions,  has 
now  come  to  the  conclusion,  and  avowed  it,  I  believe,  that 
median-al  cathedrals  are  not  fitted  for  Protestant  worship, 
and  thatthere  still  is  required  the  type  and  the  model  of  a 
perfect  Protestant  church,  fitted  for  peifect  Protestant  wor- 
ship. And  that  one  can  easily  conceive.  Tlie  great  use 
of  the  Protestant  church  is,  first,  prayer  or  worship  ;  and, 
secondly,  preaching  and  teaching  ;  and  if  one  is  to  lead  the 
worship,  the  people  ought  to  be  so  situated  that  all  can  hear 
him.  A  church,  if  one  is  to  preach  to  be  understood,  ought 
to  be  so  appointed  that  all  can  see,  and  hear,  and  be  en- 
lightened.    Let  it  be  as  tasteful  as  you  like ;  I  think  it  is 


EXODUS    XL.  327 

wrong  that  we  should  dwell  in  splendid  mansions,  and  God's 
house  be  a  barn  ;  let  it  be  as  tasteful  and  as  beautiful  as  you 
like.  But  when  you  do,  as  I  was  reading  in  the  newspapers 
they  have  done  in  an  English  Presbyterian  chapel  in  South- 
ampton, not  taken  up  the  old  Romish  saints,  which  is  bad 
enough,  but  canonized  modern  Christian  men,  and  put  them 
into  the  church,  cutting  them  out  of  stone  —  thus  breaking 
the  second  commandment,  which  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thyself  any  graven  image,  nor  the  hkeness  of 
any  thing  that  is  in  the  heaven  above,  nor  in  the  earth  be- 
neath," —  it  seems  to  me  intolerable.  We  have  no  business 
with  pictures  in  the  house  of  God,  of  Deity  ;  we  do  not 
want  pictures  of  human  beings.  It  was  the  commencement 
of  such  practices  that  led  to  an  utter  apostasy  ;  and  there- 
fore any  thing  approaching  the  images  of  men,  saints,  and 
angels  in  the  house  of  God  seems  to  me  incompatible  with 
the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thyself  any  graven 
image,  nor  the  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  the  heaven 
above,  nor  in  the  earth  beneath." 

It  is  quite  true  we  need  to  state  this  in  connection  with 
the  fact,  —  that  the  true  church,  after  all,  is  not  the  taber- 
nacle, nor  is  it  the  temple,  nor  is  it  granite,  nor  brick,  nor 
wood — but  the  company  of  living  Christians.  The  church 
is  the  company  of  believers ;  the  cathedral  is  merely  its 
covering  from  the  wind  and  the  rain.  The  church  is  within, 
the  building  may  or  may  not  be.  There  is  a  true  church  — 
the  germ  of  a  true  church  —  wherever  two  or  three  are  met 
together  in  Christ's  name ;  for,  "  there,"  says  he,  "  I  am  in 
the  midst  of  them." 


THE  SHECHINAH. 

"  Then  a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  tlie  congi-egation,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle.  And  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  into 
the  tent  of  the  congregation,  because  the  cloud  abode  thereon,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle.  And  when  the  cloud  was  taken 
up  from  over  the  tabernacle,  the  children  of  Israel  went  onward  in  all 
their  journeys:  but  if  the  cloud  were  not  taken  up,  then  they  journeyed 
not  till  the  day  that  it  was  taken  up.  For  the  cloud  of  the  Lord  was 
upon  the  tabernacle  by  day,  and  fire  was  on  it  by  night,  in  the  sight  of 
all  the  house  of  Israel,  throughout  all  their  journeys."  —  Exodus  xl. 
3-1  —  38. 

I  HAVE  selected  the  passage  T  have  read,  not  simply  be- 
cause it  refers  to  the  chapter,  but  because  it  is  one  of  a  suc- 
cessive series  of  allusions  to  this  glory,  or  cloud,  or  pillar  of 
fire,  which  we  have  frequently  read,  and  on  which  I  have 
been  able  to  offer  comparatively  so  unsatisfactory  instruc- 
tion. 

I  have  traced  every  allusion  in  Scripture  to  this  cloud,  or 
pillar  of  fire  —  this  glory  that  shone  between  the  cherubim, 
and  rested  on  the  tabernacle ;  and  I  have  tried  to  gather 
from  all  the  allusions  to  it,  contained  and  scattered  through- 
out holy  Scripture,  what  was  its  object,  its  significant  import 
and  allusion  to  the  times,  and  the  truths  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament reveals.  I  will  therefore  endeavor  to  direct  your 
minds  to  those  passages  of  Scripture,  as  briefly  as  I  possibly 
can,  which  refer  to  this  subject.  We  have  read  so  much  of 
it  that  we  must  naturally  desire  to  understand  precisely 
what  it  was,  what  its  meaning  is,  and  what  profitable  lessons 
we,  on  whom  the  ends  of  the  w'orld  are  come,  may  gather 
from  this  supernatural  phenomenon. 


THE    SHECniNAH.  329 

First,  let  me  notice,  it  was  called  by  the  ancient  Jews  by 
the  name  —  a  name  extremely  significant  —  their  siiecii- 
INAH.  This  word  —  the  shechinah  —  is  derived  from  a  lie- 
brew  word,  shakan,  which  means  "  to  dwell,"  or  "  to  have  a 
habitation ;  "  and  it  was  called  "  the  habitation,"  or,  "  the 
shechinah"  because  this  glory  —  ever  marching  with  them 
—  a  reddened  pillar  of  fire,  a  majestic  appearance  by  night, 
and  a  dark  cloud  towering  from  earth  to  the  sky  by  day  — 
was  called  the  shechinah,  because  it  afterwards  rested  on  the 
lid  of  the  mercy-seat  in  the  chancel,  or  the  holy  of  holies  ; 
and  there,  from  between  the  cherubim,  and  from  the  mercy- 
seat,  sent  forth  its  bright  beams  as  the  symbol  and  the  proof 
that  God  was  present  in  the  midst  of  Israel.  All  those  pas- 
sages therefore  that  appear  in  Scripture,  speaking  of  God's 
dwelling,  are  allusive  to  this.  That  beautiful  Psalm,  tlie 
80th,  "  O  Thou  that  dwellest  between  the  cherubim,"  trans- 
lated into  its  allusive  language,  would  be,  "  O  Thou  who  art 
the  shechinah  between  the  cherubim ;  "  or,  in  the  language 
that  we  have  been  reading,  "  0  Thou  who  art  the  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night ;  the  glory  of 
thy  people  Israel,  between  the  cherubim  and  on  the  mercy- 
seat."  So,  again,  in  such  passages  as  these :  —  Psalm  Ixxiv. 
2,  "  Mount  Zion,  wherein  thou  hast  dwelt ;  "  a  passage  ren- 
dered thus  by  the  Chaldee  paraphrast,  that  is,  a  commen- 
tator among  the  Jews  — "  Wherein  thou  hast  made  the 
shechinah  to  dwell."  In  Haggai  i.  8,  it  is  in  our  version, 
"  Build  the  house,  and  I  will  take  pleasure  therein,  and  be 
glorified  : "  the  Jewish  commentator  translates  it,  "  Build  the 
house,  and  I  will  make  my  shechinah  to  dwell  therein,"  — 
showing  that  the  Jews  always  understood  this  habitation  or 
dwelling  of  the  Most  High  to  have  a  definite  reference  to 
the  shechinah :  and  this  shechinah,  as  I  shall  show  you  by 
other  passages  of  Scripture,  was  the  representative  symbol 
of  a  present  and  a  propitious  God. 

But  there  seems  at  first  a  sort  of  contradiction  between 
28* 


330  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

the  words  of  Scripture.  We  find  that  Moses  and  Aaron,  in 
their  intercourse  with  God,  speak  constantly  of  seeing  God ; 
and  we  shall  find  in  other  parts  of  Scripture  distinct  asser- 
tions that  God  never  was  seen,  is  not  seen,  and  cannot  be 
seen.  Let  us,  for  instance,  refer  to  that  passage  in  John  i. 
18  :  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time."  Colossians  i. 
15  :  "  The  nnage  of  the  invisible  God."  1  Timothy  vi.  16  : 
"  Who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling  in  the  light  which 
no  man  can  approach  unto  ;  whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor 
can  see." 

Now,  all  these  definitions  square  with  our  own  appre- 
hensions of  God,  —  that  he  is  a  Spirit,  invisible,  and  not  to 
be  beheld  by  the  human  eye,  or  by  any  created  being.  But 
having  these  passages  so  plain,  let  me  read  other  passages 
now  which  seem  directly  to  contradict  them.  Exodus  xxiv. 
9 :  "  Then  went  up  Moses  and  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu, 
and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel ;  and  they  saw  the  God 
of  Israel;''  "  they  saw  God,  and  did  eat  and  drink."  Ex- 
odus xxxiii.  11:"  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face  to 
face."  Isaiah  vi.  1  :  "  I  saw  also  the  Lord,  sitting  upon  a 
throne,  high  and  lifted  up.  —  Then  said  I,  Woe  is  me ! 
for  I  am  undone  ;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips, 
and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips :  for 
mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Now, 
how  do  we  reconcile  passages  so  apparently  contradictory  ? 
Let  me  just  say,  if  this  book  or  composition  had  been  that 
of  a  man  who  was  writing  what  he  knew  not  to  be  true, 
and  wishing  to  palm  upon  the  world  a  document  as  Divine 
which  was  really  human,  he  would  have  taken  care  to  avoid 
such  apparently  palpable  contradictions  as  these  ;  because 
they  are  not  the  incidental  contradictions  of  a  fallible  mind, 
forgetting  itself,  and  falling  into  error ;  but  they  are  evi- 
dently so  decided,  and  so  reiterated,  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing beyond  the  letter  that  will  show  there  is  light  and 
harmony  where  there  seems  to  be  palpable  and  irreconcil- 


THE    SIIECIIINAII.  331 

able  discord.  Now,  what  will  explain  that?  The  first 
series  of  expressions,  "  God  is  invisible,"  arc  all  most  true. 
The  second  series  of  expressions,  namely,  Moses  saw  God, 
Isaiah  beheld  God,  and  Nadab  and  Abihu  also  saw  God, 
are  to  be  explained  by  this,  —  that  it  was  the  shechinah  that 
they  saw;  and  that  shechinah  —  what  I  have  called  the 
pillar  of  cloud,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  —  that  glory  was  to 
Israel  precisely  what  Christ  —  the  brightness  of  the  shech- 
inah, the  brightness  of  his  glory  —  is  to  us,  on  whom  the 
ends  of  the  world  are  come.  In  other  words,  there  always 
has  been  a  manifestation  of  God  to  the  creature  in  a  form 
in  which  he  could  either  see,  or  hear,  or  know,  or  under- 
stand him.  The  shechinah  was  God  visible  to  Israel,  as 
Jesus  is  God  manifest  to  us.  AVhile  it  is  true,  therefore, 
that  no  man  hath  seen  the  invisible  God,  it  was  no  less  true 
that  they  had  seen  God  face  to  face,  —  speaking  from  the 
cloud,  manifesting  himself  from  the  glory,  and  marching 
with  them  in  majestic  procession  through  the  wide  desert 
till  they  arrived  at  the  borders  oi'  Canaan :  the  glory  then 
no  more  to  sojourn  in  the  desert,  but  to  rest  for  a  little  sea- 
son between  the  cherubim  in  the  tabernacle  or  the  mercy- 
seat  of  the  temple. 

We  have,  tlierefore,  in  the  shechinah,  the  ancient  reve- 
lation or  manifestation  of  God  ;  the  type  and  symbol  of 
Him  who  is  to  us  God  manifest  in  the  fiesh.  Moses  went 
near  to  it ;  and  when  the  glory  was  so  great  that  he  could 
not  bear  it,  it  was  the  darkness  opening,  or  a  rent  taking 
place  in  the  cloud,  and  the  bright  beams  coming  out.  I 
can  conceive  nothing  more  beautifully  descriptive,  as  a  type 
of  our  blessed  Lord,  than  a  mass  of  dark  cloud  embosoming 
in  its  centre  a  brilliant  and  intolerable  splendor  :  Deity  in 
humanity  ;  the  invisible  God  in  the  shape  of  the  human. 
Out  of  that  cloud  God  also  spoke  to  Moses,  and  made  known 
his  mind  and  law. 

In  order  to  show  that  the  Jews  always  understood  that  the 


332  SCKIPTURE    READINGS. 

shechinah  was  in  some  way  associated  with  the  Messiah,  I 
will  quote  from  a  Jewish  commentator,  who  has  rendered 
several  passages  of  Scripture  that  alhide  to  this.  For  in- 
stance, in  Genesis  iii,  8  :  "  They  heard  "  —  Adam  and  Eve 
heard  —  "  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  gar- 
den." I  believe  that  was  not  the  Father,  but  the  Second 
Person  in  the  glorious  Trinity.  I  believe  it  is  true  from  the 
beginning,  the  Father  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can  see ;  and 
that  the  Great  Being  that  had  constant  intercourse  with 
Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise,  with  Abraham  in  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  with  the  Jews  in  Egypt,  with  the  Israelites  in 
the  desert,  with  Solomon  and  David  in  the  temple,  down- 
ward to  the  advent  of  Christ  in  the  flesh,  was  the  Second 
Person  in  the  glorious  and  adorable  Trinity.  And  the  Jews 
singularly  enough,  whose  testimony  in  this  respect  must  be 
very  valuable  in  that  it  was  undesigned,  are  our  best  aux- 
iliary here.  That  passage,  "  They  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden  :  "  the  Chaldee  paraphrase 
renders,  "  They  heard  the  voice  of  the  Word  of  God  walk- 
ing in  the  garden."  The  passage,  "  God  appeared  unto 
Jacob  : "  the  Chaldee  paraphrase  reads,  "  The  Word  of  the 
Lord  appeared  unto  Jacob,"  Exodus  xxx.  6 :  "  Where  I 
v/ill  meet  with  thee  : "  the  Chaldee  paraphrase  has  rendered 
"  Where  I  will  appoint  for  thee  my  Word."  Ntimbers  xi. 
20 :  "  Ye  have  despised  the  Lord  which  is  among  you." 
The  paraphrase  renders  it,  "  Ye  have  contemned  the  Word 
of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  shechinah  dwelling  among  you." 
Deuteronomy  i.  30  :  "  The  Lord  your  God  which  goeth 
before  you,"  —  language  allusive  to  the  pillar  of  cloud,  you 
observe  —  is  given  thus  :  "  The  Word  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
thy  leader."  Again,  in  the  32d  verse:  "The  Lord  your 
God,  who  went  in  the  way  before  you,  to  search  you  out  a 
place  to  pitch  your  tents  in,  in  fire  by  night,"  is  paraphrased 
"  The  Word  of  the  Lord  who  went  before  you  as  your 
leader  by  night."     In  every  instance,  you  observe,  the  Jew 


THE    SHECniNAH.  333 

assumes  that  the  Jehovah  who  appeared  to  Adam  and  Eve 
in  Paradise,  who  marched  the  chikh'en  of  Israel  through 
the  wide  spread  desert,  was  not  the  Father,  but  the  AVord, 
that  is,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

What  will  show  also  that  this  was  the  idea  of  the  Jews, 
is  John's  own  allusion  to  it  in  his  Gospel,  where  he  says, 
"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  God;" 
and  Jesus  is  called  "  The  Word,"  because  "  God,  who  at 
sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time  past  unto 
the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken 
unto  us  by  his  Son."  God's  speaking  voice  to  mankind  is 
Christ.  W^hat  is  Christ  ?  God's  love  audible,  God's  mercy 
visible,  God's  justice  unveiled:  God  in  all  his  glory  re- 
vealed to  man ;  brought  within  the  horizon  of  man's  appre- 
hension, and  comprehended  by  man  as  far  as  it  is  possible. 

And  if  other  arguments  were  wanting,  one  text  is  conclu- 
sive. "  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  amongst  us." 
A  Hebrew,  translating  the  New  Testament  out  of  Greek 
into  his  own  tongue,  would  render  it,  "  The  Word  was  made 
flesh,  and  was  the  shechinah  in  the  midst  of  us,"  —  or,  "  the 
tabernacle  containing  the  shechinah  in  the  midst  of  us." 
The  language  is  so  allusive  to  the  shechinah  that  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  see  that  the  Evangelist  John  meant  that  the 
shechinah  was  a  type  of  our  Blessed  Lord.  So,  in  the 
burning  bush ;  which  was  not  a  bush  —  whether  bramble, 
or  furze,  or  any  thing  else,  that  burned  with  material  fire  — 
but  that  blazed  by  the  presence  of  the  splendor  that  shone 
between  the  cherubim,  and  was  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day, 
and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 

It  was  this  same  glory,  we  are  told,  that  appeared  to 
Abraham,  and  on  Sinai  at  the  giving  of  the  Law  ;  on  Mount 
Sinai,  where  there  was  thunder,  and  lightning,  and  tempest, 
and  all  that  could  terrify.  The  lightning  that  was  there, 
the  glory  with  which  the  mount  was  crowned  as  with  a 
fiery  coronal,  was,  I  believe,  the  shechinah.     And  the  proof 


Oo4  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  it  is  this  :  —  In  Deuteronomy  iv.  12,  we  read:  "And  the 
Lord  spake  unto  you  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire ;  ye  heard 
the  voice  of  the  words,  but  saw  no  similitude"  And  again, 
in  the  fifth  chapter,  at  the  twenty-second  verse :  "  These 
words  the  Lord  spake  unto  all  your  assembly  in  the  mount 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and  of  the  thick 
darkness,  Avith  a  great  voice ;  and  he  added  no  more.  And 
he  wrote  them  on  two  tables  of  stone,  and  delivered  them 
unto  me."  You  see  there  that  Moses,  who  was  competent 
to  pronounce,  even  if  he  had  not  been  inspired,  says  it  was 
the  shechinah,  or  the  glory,  that  appeared  on  Mount  Sinai, 
and  spoke  to  the  children  of  Israel. 

Now  if  this  be  so  —  if  the  shechinah  was  the  type  of 
Jesus  —  and  I  think  the  passages  I  have  quoted  prove  it, 
and  especially  the  statement  of  John  that  the  Word  was 
made  flesh,  and  was  the  shechinah  in  the  tabernacle  in  the 
midst  of  us ;  for  that  is  the  meaning  —  if  this  was  the  type 
of  Christ,  then  the  inference  that  we  draw  from  it  is 
most  conclusive  that  Jesus  was  what  we  know  and  are  sure 
that  he  is  —  Jehovah,  in  the  highest  possible  sense  of  that 
expression.  To  show  that  this  shechinah  was  Jehovah,  we 
find  in  Exodus  xiv.  19,  —  "And  the  angel  of  God,  which 
went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  removed  and  went  behind 
them ;  and  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  went  from  before  their 
face,  and  stood  behind  them :  and  it  came  between  the  camp 
of  the  Egyptians  and  the  camp  of  Israel ;  and  it  was  a 
cloud  and  darkness  to  them,  but  it  gave  light  by  night  to 
these :  so  that  the  one  came  not  near  the  other  all  the 
night.  And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea :  and 
the  Lord "  —  evidently  identifying  here  the  Jehovah,  — 
an"-el  of  the  Lord  —  and  cloud.  This  identification  will  be 
more  manifest  to  you  when  I  tell  you  that  the  phrase, 
"Anf^el  of  the  Lord  "  —  about  whom  we  read  so  often  in 
Exodus  —  is  literally  translated,  "  The  sent  one  Jehovah." 
It  is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  "Angel  of  the  Lord : "  it  is  3Ielech 


THE    SnECIIINAH.  335 

Tehovah  —  literally,  "Angel  Jehovah."  And  this  angel  of 
the  Lord  was  not  a  created  intelligence,  but  plainly  Jehovah 
himself.  And  in  Exodus  xxxiii.  8,  we  have,  if  possible,  a 
still  more  distinct  allusion  to  it.  "And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  Moses  went  out  into  the  tabernacle,  that  all  the  people 
rose  up,  and  stood  every  man  at  his  tent  door,  and  looked 
after  Moses,  until  he  was  gone  into  the  tabernacle.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  as  Moses  entered  into  the  tabernacle "  — 
mark  the  words  —  "  the  cloudy  pillar  descended,  and  stood 
at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  Lord  talked  with 
Moses.  And  all  the  people  saw  the  cloudy  pillar  stand  at 
the  tabernacle  door ;  and  all  the  people  rose  up  and  wor- 
shipped, every  man  in  his  tent  door.  And  Jehovah  spake 
unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend." 
There  can  be  no  mistake  here  that  this  cloudy  pillar,  which 
was  the  outer  shrine  of  the  inner  glory  that  talked  to  Moses, 
spoke  to  him  face  to  face,  is  called  in  this  very  passage  the 
sheckinah.  And,  what  is  still  more  striking,  we  read,  in 
Isaiah  Ixiii.  9,  that  "  in  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted, 
and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  them  ; "  —  that  is,  the 
cloud,  this  cloudy  pillar,  the  pillar  of  fire,  was  called  by  the 
Israelites,  "the  presence  of  the  Lord."  The  shewbread, 
which  was  called  "  the  bread  of  faces,"  or  "  of  his  presence." 
"  The  angel  of  his  presence "  is  the  same  being  as  "  the 
angel  Jehovah,"  the  same  as  "  Jehovah,"  the  same  as  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day.  And 
this  very  same  Being  is  alluded  to  by  Malachi,  where  God 
himself  speaks,  and  says,  "  Behold,  I  will  send  my  angel ; " 
it  is  in  our  version  very  properly  "  my  messenger,  and  he 
shall  prepare  the  .way  before  me  ;  and  the  Lord  "  —  Jeho- 
vah—  "whom  ye  seek,  sliall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple, 
even  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in : 
behold,  he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Here  you 
have  God  the  Father  —  the  Lord  of  hosts  —  predicting 
that  Jehovah  shall  come  to  his  temple  —  (or,  translated  into 


336  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  language  of  ExodUvS  —  "  the  glory,"  "  the  shechinah  in 
the  midst  of  the  tabernacle  ")  —  "  shall  come  to  his  temple, 
and  dwell  in  it,  even  the  Lord  Avhom  ye  delight  in." 

We  have  in  all  these  passages,  clear  proof  of  identity 
between  this  glory  and  the  Jehovah ;  and  if  that  glory  was 
the  type  of  Christ,  it  is  identity  no  less  complete  between 
Jehovah  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

One  other  passage  I  will  read,  which  seems  to  prove 
what  I  have  been  saying.  In  Deuteronomy  i.  31 :  "And  in 
the  wilderness,  where  thou  hast  seen  how  that  the  Lord  thy 
God  bare  thee,  as  a  man  doth  bear  his  son,  in  all  the  way 
that  ye  went,  until  ye  came  into  this  place.  Yet  in  this 
thing  ye  did  not  believe  the  Lord  your  God.  Who  went  in 
the  way  before  you,  to  search  you  out  a  place  to  pitch  your 
tents  in,  in  fire  by  night,  to  show  you  by  what  way  ye 
should  go,  and  in  a  cloud  by  day."  Thus  in  Deuteronomy 
it  is  expressly  stated  that  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  and  the 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  was  Jehovah  going  before  them. 

Now,  after  reading  all  these  indications  of  Jehovah,  the 
Messiah,  as  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire 
by  night,  just  see  what  significance  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrew^s  has  when  you  read  it  in  this  light : 
"  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in 
time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last 
days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed 
heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds  ;  who 
being  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of 
his  person,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power,  when  he  had  by  himself  purged  our  sins,  sat  down 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  ;  being  made  so 
much  better  than  the  angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  ob- 
tained a  more  excellent  name  than  they.  For  unto  which 
of  the  angels  said  he  at  any  time,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this 
day  have  I  begotten  thee  ?  And  again,  I  will  be  to  him  a 
Father,  and  he  shall  be  to  me  a  Son  ?    And  again,  when  he 


THE    SnECniNAH.  337 

bringeth  in  the  first-begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith,  And 
let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him.  And  of"  the  angels 
of  God  he  saith,  AVho  niaketh  his  angels  spirits,  and  his 
ministers  a  flame  of  fire.  But  unto  the  Son  he  saitii.  Thy 
throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever."  You  observe  that 
God,  who  in  times  past  spake  to  us  by  the  cloudy  pillar, 
hath  in  thokse  last  days  spoken  to  us  by  liim  who  is  its  anti- 
type —  His  Son.  God,  who  in  times  past  guided  them  by 
the  burning  brightness  of  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  now 
guides  you  by  Him  who  is  the  brightness  of  his  glory  and 
the  express  image  of  his  person.  And  the  angel  Jehovah 
that  guided  you  through  the  desert  was  not  a  created 
angel  —  "  for  unto  which  of  the  angels  said  he  at  any  time, 
Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee?  And 
again,  I  will  be  to  him  a  Father,  and  he  shall  be  to  me  a 
Son.  And  again,  when  he  bringeth  in  the  first-begotten 
into  the  world,  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  wor- 
ship him."  Therefore,  argues  the  apostle  with  irresistible 
logic,  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day,  with  Jehovah  —  the  Angel  Jehovah  —  that  spoke  from 
it,  was  not  a  created  angel,  but  Jesus  Christ  himself,  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of 
his  person. 

Having  seen  up  to  this  point  the  identity  between  the 
two,  let  me  mention  another  fact  which  will  still  further 
illustrate  it.  This  angel,  this  pillar  of  fire  by  night  and 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  was  God's  medium  of  communica- 
tion with  the  children  of  Israel;  for  we  read  in  Exodus 
xxxiii.  9  —  which  passage  I  have  already  quoted  —  that 
"  the  Lord  talked  with  Moses.  And  all  the  people  saw  the 
cloudy  pillar."  When  he  wished  to  know  what  was  the 
mind  of  God,  he  ai)proached  this  pillar  of  cloud  by  day, 
and  pillar  of  fire  by  night :  and  what  that  was  to  Israel, 
Jesus  Christ  is  to  us.  Their  shechinah  was  the  type ;  Jesus 
is  the  true  Shechinah:  from  him  we  are  to  hear  clearer 
29 


338  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  better  words  than  Moses  heard  from  the  perishable 
type.  And  the  whole  New  Testament  is  evidently  allusive 
to  this.  A  very  remarkable  evidence  of  the  identity  be- 
tween this  glory,  or  the  shec/iinah,  and  Christ,  is  what  the 
apostle  says:  "We  beheld  his  glory"  —  or  his  shechinah  — 
"as  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father."  And  St.  Peter, 
alluding  to  the  Mount  Tabor,  says,  "  We  were  eye-witnesses 
of  his  glory."  And  to  show  that  Peter  had  in  his  mind, 
even  when  he  had  almost  lost  his  senses  on  the  Mount  in 
the  midst  of  that  excessive  splendor,  some  clear  apprehen- 
sion of  the  connection  between  what  he  saw  there,  and 
what  we  read  here,  he  said,  "  Let  us  make  three  tabernacles, 
one  for  thee,  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias."  What 
could  have  put  tabernacle  into  Peter's  head  ?  His  beholding 
the  shechinah :  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Gospel,  "  not 
knowing  what  he  said,"  but  having  a  dim  sense  of  connec- 
tion in  his  mind  between  the  glory  on  Mount  Tabor  and  the 
ancient  tabernacle,  he  said,  "  Let  us  make  three  tabernacles, 
one  for  thee,  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias."  It  is, 
therefore,  I  think,  perfectly  clear  that  this  shechinah  — ■ 
whether  as  the  leader  and  the  guide  of  Israel,  or  as  the  ora- 
cle that  taught  them  —  was  no  less  than  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  So  that  we  have  in 
Christ  all  that  can  be  known  of  Deity,  and  more  than 
Israel  ever  could  have  known. 

You  say  —  what  is  quite  true  —  "  We  do  not  see  Christ 
now."  But  that  does  not  matter.  It  is  not  the  features  of 
the  face  that  constitute  the  man:  it  is  the  words  he  has 
spoken,  and  made  permanent ;  it  is  the  acts  he  has  done, 
whose  echoes  live.  Take,  as  illustration,  any  great  histo- 
rian, or  great  orator,  or  poet,  or  statesman  :  I  feel  that  to 
compreliend  the  man,  to  understand  his  character,  to  have  a 
thorougli  apprehension  of  what  he  was,  I  do  not  need  a 
picture  of  him.  Call  to  mind  any  great  statesman,  great 
soldier,  or  sailor;  read  their  documents  or  despatches,  their 


THE    SITKCTIIXAIT.  339 

communications  or  writings,  or  the  history  of  their  deeds, 
and  you  comprehend  them  perfectly.  I  comprehend  Lord 
Nelson  or  the  Duke  of  Wellington  more  distinctly  at  this 
moment,  though  they  are  not  to  be  seen  in  the  llesh,  than 
ever  I  could  do  by  merely  seeing  them.  Now,  to  illustrate 
heavenly  things  by  earthly,  I  have  a  more  clear  comprehen- 
sion of  Jesus  from  reading  my  New  Testament  than  ever 
Peter,  John,  or  Paul  had  by  seeing  him  upon  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem  and  upon  the  fields  of  Palestine.  Jesus  is  here ; 
so  that  when  I  listen  to  those  words  that  ever  live,  and 
never  die,  I  hear  Christ  speaking:  when  I  read  of  him 
marching  upon  the  wave,  and  laying  his  hand  upon  the 
ocean's  mane,  and  it  obedient  as  the  steed  to  its  rider,  I  can 
see  his  power :  when  I  read  of  him  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus, 
dropping  a  tear  upon  the  dead  dust,  what  an  evidence  that 
lie  was  my  brother !  but,  speaking  to  the  departed  soul,  and 
it  returns  to  the  shrine  it  had  forsaken,  what  an  evidence  of 
him  as  my  God !  When  I  see  all  this,  I  comprehend  Jesus 
most  thoroughly.  I  have  the  glory  in  the  cloud  present 
with  me  now.  I  need  no  picture  of  him.  I  need  not  his 
personal  presence  now :  one  day  that  also  will  be.  I  can 
clearly  hear  God's  voice  and  see  God's  character  in  Christ ; 
and  know  and  be  assured  that  he  is  —  what  the  Unitarian 
is  so  deluded  in  denying — God  himself,  in  the  attributes, 
and  the  functions,  and  within  the  limits  of  my  humanity. 

Now  let  us  gather  from  all  this  two  or  three  lessons,  prac- 
tically instructive  to  us ;  and  also  still  further  explanatory. 
The  cloud,  we  are  told  in  this  passage,  covered  the  tent, 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle.  This  taber- 
nacle was  simply  a  beautiful  erection,  of  purple,  and  blue, 
and  linen,  and  sockets,  and  pins,  and  planks,  until  the  glory 
rushed  into  it,  and  filled  it  with  its  unapproachable  splendor. 
This  is  "  the  place  of  my  throne,  and  the  place  of  the  soles 
of  my  feet,  where  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  children 
of  Israel."     No  beauty  in  that  erection  was  of  any  avail  till 


340  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  glory  went  into  it :  it  was  a  tabernacle,  beautiful  and 
complete  when  Moses  finished  it ;  it  became  a  choice  pal- 
ace and  a  holy  sanctuary  the  instant  that  the  glory  entered 
into  it. 

It  is  so  still.  You  will  comprehend  now  that  beautiful 
text,  and  see  its  force  :  "  Where  two  or  three  are  met  to- 
gether in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Let 
ten  thousand  people  be  in  the  largest  cathedral  of  Europe, 
and  there  is  no  church  over  them,  and  no  church  among 
them  :  there  is  a  grand  cathedral,  there  is  a  mighty  crowd ; 
but  let  Christ,  the  glory,  enter  into  the  midst  of  them  :  let 
it  be  true,  "  Met  in  my  name,  and  I  in  the  midst  of  them," 
and  the  crowd  becomes  a  congregation,  the  mighty  multitude 
becomes  a  church,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  there  in  the 
midst  of  them.  So  again :  "  Lo !  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  w^orld,"  that  is,  the  pillar  of  fire  by 
night  and  cloud  by  day.  Tiie  truth  is,  therefore,  (and  what 
a  pity  that  this  is  not  known  in  every  church,  and  chapel, 
and  cathedral  of  England,)  that  a  church  is  not  a  building, 
neither  a  basilica,  nor  a  cathedral,  nor  a  chapel,  nor  a  meet- 
jng-house  ;  but  it  is,  the  company  of  God's  people.  What 
makes  a  church  is,  a  people  met  in  Christ's  name,  with 
Christ  the  ShecJdnah  dwelHng  in  the  midst  of  them.  jS^oth- 
ing  else  can  make  a  church.  All  the  bishops  and  general 
assemblies  of  Christendom  cannot  do  it ;  all  tlie  architects 
and  builders  of  the  world  cannot  do  it.  It  is  a  mother  that 
makes  a  home;  it  is  a  queen  that  makes  a  palace:  it  is 
Christ  among  a  people  that  consecrates  a  crowd  into  a 
cliiircli. 

i'liis  presence  of  Jesus,  the  true  Shechinah,  is  now  the 
object  of  faitli  —  it  will  one  day  be  the  object  of  sight.  I 
have  said,  that  I  comprehend  Christ  perfectly,  from  his  own 
})icture  of  himself.  And  the  best  i)icture  of  Christ  surely 
is  the  New  Testament.  It  does  seem  to  me  so  stuj)id  in 
ecclesiastics  to  try  and  get  up  oil-paintings  of  our  blessed 


THE    SHECIIIXAH.  311 

Lord,  when  we  have  the  inner  portrait  complete  and  perfect 
from  his  own  inspiring  Spirit.  I  have  said,  we  compreliend 
Christ  now  —  we  comprehend  him  by  faith,  beheving  the 
testimony  of  the  Gospel ;  but  a  day  comes  when  we  shall 
see  him  face  to  face.  And  from  what  I  proceed  to  (piote  it 
seems  as  if  this  tabernacle  was  the  beginning,  or  the  rude 
sketch,  of  some  grand  thing  that  is  to  be.  I  quote  from 
Revelation  xxi.,  where  the  language  is  clearly  allusive  to  it : 
"  I,  John,  saw  the  holy  city,  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down 
from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for 
her  husband."  You  notice  how  John  has  no  idea  of  the 
church  being  a  house  —  It  is  a  company  of  living  people, 
represented  by  the  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  Now 
mark  what  follows :  "  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of 
heaven,  saying.  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men  !" 
Once  it  was  in  the  desert  with  the  Jews,  in  the  temple  with 
the  Jews  still ;  in  Christ  for  men  ;  then  in  the  MiUennium 
it  will  be  with  men  —  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  and  he  will 
dwell,  (mark  the  language,)  he  will  dwell  with  them  —  hter- 
ally,  "He  will  be  the  shechinah  in  the  midst  of  them"  — 
and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them  —  visibly  manifested  in 
the  midst  of  them :  and  he  shall  be  their  God.  And  then 
the  tenth  verse :  "  And  he  carried  me  away  in  the  spirit  to 
a  great  and  high  mountain,  and  showed  me  that  great  city," 
—  that  is,  the  bride  —  "  the  holy  Jerusalem,  descending  out 
of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory  of  God  "  —  being 
the  shechinah.  The  shechinah  is  not  with  the  Jew  literally, 
the  shechinah  is  not  with  the  Jew  truly,  because  he  denies 
Christ ;  but  it  is  with  us  by  faith  :  but  a  day  comes  —  the 
sound  of  whose  approach  reverberates  through  Christendom 
at  this  moment — when  the  glory  —  the  shechinah  —  shall 
be  revealed  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  and  shall  be  with  us. 
Let  me  notice  this  other  lesson.  When  the  glory  de- 
scended on  the  tabernacle,  we  learn  that  it  filled  the  whole 
house.  "  The  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  whole  house  "  — 
29* 


342  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  is,  every  ray  of  light  in  the  midst  of  that  tabernacle  was 
from  Christ.  And  if  Christ  in  the  midst  of  his  people  be 
to  us  what  the  glory  Avas  in  the  midst  of  the  tabernacle, 
then,  in  the  house  of  God,  Christ's  name  should  be  above 
every  name  ;  Christ's  glory  should  supersede  all  glory ; 
Christ's  presence  should  till  the  hearts  of  his  people.  Hence, 
all  such  names  as  Church  of  England,  Church  of  Scotland, 
Wesleyan  Church,  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian,  Independent 
—  all  these,  that  we  are  apt  to  glory  in,  are  only  the  proofs 
that  we  glory  in  our  shame  ;  they  are  the  evidences  of  our 
childhood  in  Christianity.  Just  as  the  glory  of  the  shecJdnah 
filled  the  whole  tabernacle,  and  no  light  besides,  so  Clirist's 
name  should  overspread  the  whole  sanctuary ;  and  the 
names  of  Reformers,  however  illustrious,  should  not  be 
legible  to  me.  In  the  days  of  Athens  —  its  most  palmy 
days  —  an  architect  raised  a  magnificent  temple ;  but  he 
put  his  own  name  as  the  architect  on  a  very  prominent 
place ;  and  that  so  shocked  the  aesthetic  taste  of  that  culti- 
vated people  that  they  ordered  that  part  of  the  building  to 
be  utterly  destroyed.  Now,  whenever  Luther's,  or  Wesley's 
or  Knox's,  or  Ridley's,  or  Latimer's,  or  Augustine's,  or  St. 
Jerome's  names  are  heard  in  the  sanctuary,  or  seen,  or 
prided  in,  it  is  man  in  the  19th  century  eclipsed  by  Athens 
nearly  three  thousand  years  ago  —  trying  to  introduce  the 
tiny  rushlight  of  the  creature  in  the  place  of  Christ  —  the 
Shechinah  —  the  all  and  in  all. 

In  the  next  place,  we  read  that  Moses,  when  he  approached 
the  tabernacle,  was  unable  to  enter  in  because  of  the  exces- 
sive glory  in  the  midst  of  it.  In  this  respect  there  seems  to 
have  remained  in  the  tabernacle  a  portion  of  the  peculiar 
dispensation  of  which  it  was  a  part.  God  was  revealed  on 
Sinai  as  the  consuming  fire  ;  and  some  sparks  of  that  con- 
suming fire  appear  to  have  been  mingled  with  the  revelation 
of  God's  glory.  We  must  not  forget  that  the  Jewish  econ- 
omy was  imperfect ;  that  it   was   only  a  step  in  the  grand 


THE    SHECIIINAH.  343 

progression ;  and  that  a  great  deal  of  Sinai,  revealed  in  tlie 
Jewish  economy,  is  only  now  snper>eded  by  that  better 
Mount,  which  is  the  spiritual  centre  in  our  econouiy.  It 
seems  that  the  glory  was  so  intense  that  jNIoses  could  not 
enter ;  and,  singular  enough,  in  the  case  of  the  temple,  the 
same  thing  occurred ;  for  we  read  in  1  Kings  viii.  10  :  "  And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  the  priests  were  come  out  of  the  holy 
place,  that  the  cloud  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord,  so  that 
the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  because  of  the  cloud, 
for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord." 
And  what  shows  that  there  was  judgment  or  terror  in  some 
degree  connected  with  this,  is  that  in  one  of  the  great  judg- 
ments recorded  in  the  Apocalypse,  we  have  this  very  same 
figure  employed  to  denote  its  terrible  character.  We  read 
in  Revelation  xv.  7  :  "  And  one  of  the  four  living  creatures 
gave  unto  the  seven  angels  seven  golden  vials  full  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the 
temple  w^as  filled  with  smoke  from  the  glory  of  God,  and 
from  his  power  ;  and  no  man  was  able  to  enter  into  the 
temple,  till  the  seven  plagues  of  the  seven  angels  were  ful- 
filled." Thus,  therefore,  there  seems  to  us,  what,  no  doubt, 
it  conveyed  also  to  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel,  that  in 
the  shechinah,  as  manifested  then,  there  was  a  remnant  of 
the  burning  and  consuming  fire  that  there  was  on  Mount 
Sinai ;  but  in  our  case  this  is  all  gone,  and  Christ  now  is 
the  manifestation  of  God's  glory  —  so  real  tliat  I  can  see 
God  in  him,  and  see  him  to  be  so  truly  my  brother,  that  I 
can  approach  to  him  not  as  Moses  approached  —  unable  to 
penetrate  further  because  of  the  unearthly  splendor  —  but 
I  can  approach  with  boldness  to  the  throne  of  grace,  be- 
cause I  have  a  Great  liigh-Priest,  who  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  me. 

The  next  practical  remark  1  will  make  is  this,  that  this 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  turned  into  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night, 
by  the  cloud  simply  reddening,  was  the  sole  guide  of  all  the 


314  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cliildren  of  Israel  through  the  desert.  Now,  mark  what 
they  were  to  do,  and  they  are  a  precedent  for  us :  They 
were  not  to  select  the  road  that  was  geographically  the 
nearest ;  they  took  a  road  that  was  most  circuitous :  first 
they  advanced  forward,  then  they  retreated  backward,  then 
they  moved  forward  ;  and  they  occupied  forty  years  in  their 
journey,  when  it  might  have  been  accomplished  in  the 
course  of  twelve  or  eighteen  months.  Neither  Aaron,  nor 
Moses,  nor  Joshua  were  to  select  the  course  that  was  geo- 
graphically the  nearest  to  Canaan  :  they  were  not  even  to 
select  the  road  that  was  smoothest :  they  were  not  to  avoid 
nooks,  and  bays,  and  firths  of  the  sea,  that  stretched  into  the 
land,  and  might  seem  to  them  an  obstruction :  they  were 
simply  to  fasten  their  eyes  upon  the  cloud,  and  follow  it ; 
not  looking  at  the  road  they  traversed  whether  it  was  I'ough 
or  smooth :  their  business  was  to  look  only  upon  the  cloud, 
and  follow  it,  wherever  it  led  them.  And,  my  dear  friends, 
is  not  this  our  course?  We  are  not  responsible  for  the 
length  of  the  road  ;  we  are  only  responsible  for  obeying  the 
command  of  Him  who  has  placed  us  in  it.  In  walking 
through  life,  we  are  not  to  look  to  the  right,  nor  to  the  left ; 
but  to  look  to  Christ.  And  it  seems  to  me  —  what  I  did 
not  think  of  before  —  that  the  beautiful  passage,  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  Seeing  we  are  compassed  with  so 
great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  run  the  race  set  before  us, 
looking  unto  Jesus,"  alludes  to  this  —  we  look  not  to  the 
nature  and  the  roughness  of  the  road,  nor  the  length  of  the 
race,  —  we  look  neither  to  the  right,  nor  to  the  left,  nor  be- 
fore, nor  behind  ;  but  to  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night.  How  simple  does  a  Christian's 
course  become,  when  his  eye  is  riveted  on  the  Lord  of 
glory  ;  and  he  follows  him,  not  gathering  from  others  the 
route  that  he  is  to  take,  but  looking  to  Jesus  !  And  how 
intensely  Protestant,  let  me  add,  is  that !  The  apostle  says, 
"  Seeing  we  are  compassed  with  so  great  a  cloud  "  —  that 


THE    SIIECIIIXAn.  315 

is,  a  multitude  —  "  of  witnesses,"  these  witnesses,  T  believe, 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  —  "seeing  we  are  com- 
passed with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  run  tlie 
race  set  before  us  "  —  looking  at  the  cloud  of  witnesses  ? 
No ;  nor  at  any  of  them.  It  is,  literally,  in  the  original 
Greek,  a(popcjvTeg  —  looking  off  from  the  cloud  of  witnesses, 
in  order  to  look  to  Jesus,  the  Author  and  the  Finisher  of  our 
faith.  Let  us,  then,  run  the  race ;  let  us  traverse  the 
desert ;  let  us  march  towards  Emmanuel's  land,  looking  only 
for  guidance,  for  strength,  for  pardon,  for  peace,  for  suc^cess, 
to  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by 
night,  —  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  as  another  practical  remark,  let 
us  hear  his  voice,  and  his  voice  only.  The  Jews  listened  to 
the  voice  from  the  cloud  ;  the  Christian  is  to  listen  to  Christ's 
voice.  But  what  is  his  voice?  It  is  a  voice  unspent  in 
eighteen  centuries ;  it  sounds  along  the  ages  now,  as  if  it 
had  just  been  uttered.  Every  man  that  has  the  Bible  iu 
his  hand  —  as  all  may  have  it  —  hears  that  voice. 

Every  one  that  has  that  New  Testament  in  his  hand,  has 
the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 
And  these  Chinese  revolutionists  —  to  whom  we  propose 
sending  Bibles  —  if  they  may  be  called  by  that  name, — 
anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  usurping  and  intruding  Tartar 
dynasty,  send  evidently  taught  the  leading  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity—for I  have  read  accounts,  as  lent  to  me  by  a 
friend,  with  great  care  and  with  great  delight,  —  these  Chi- 
nese, in  getting  the  New  Testament  from  us,  may,  by  God's 
blessing,  see  the  necessity  for  a  nobler  and  a  more  impor- 
tant revolution  than  that  of  a  dynasty — of  a  more  mighty 
change  than  that  of  political  regimes  ;  may,  by  God's  grace, 
become  a  fulfilment,  as  I  believe  they  will  be  soon,  of  what 
is  to  take  place  in  the  very  last  days  of  all,  when  a  nation 
shall  be  born  in  a  day. 


340  SCRIFTURE    READINGS. 

The  voice  of  God  is  everywhere.  Amid  the  roaring  of 
the  waves,  amid  the  tumbling  avalanches,  in  the  din  of  bat- 
tle, in  all  places,  in  all  time^,  and  under  all  circumstances, 
we  may  get  directions  from  the  shechinah  —  guidance  from 
the  pillar  of  cloud. 

God  has  spoken  to  us,  in  these  last  days,  by  his  Son.  If 
they  escape  not  who  listened  not  to  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
how  much  less  shall  we  escape,  if  w^e  trample  underfoot  the 
words  of  the  Son  of  God ! 

May  He  bless  to  us  these  truths,  and  to  his  name  be 
praise.     Amen. 


THE    VAILED    niOPIIET: 

OK,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  when  ]\Ioses  came  down  from  Mount  Sinai  with  the 
two  tables  of  testimony  in  Moses'  hand,  when  he  came  down  from  the 
mount,  that  Moses  wist  not  that  the  sliin  of  his  face  shone  while  he 
talked  Avith  him.  And  Avhen  Aaron  and  all  the  children  of  Israel  saw 
Moses,  behold,  the  skin  of  his  face  shone;  and  they  were  afraid  to  come 
nigh  him.  And  Closes  called  unto  them;  and  Aaron  and  all  the  rulers 
of  the  congregation  returned  unto  him :  and  Moses  talked  with  them. 
And  afterward  all  the  children  of  Israel  came  nigh:  and  he  gave  them 
in  commandment  all  that  the  Lord  had  spoken  with  him  in  Mount 
Sinai.  And  till  Moses  had  done  speaking  with  them,  he  put  a  vail  on 
his  face.  But  when  IMoses  went  in  before  the  Lord  to  &peak  with  him, 
he  took  the  vail  off,  until  he  came  out.  And  he  came  out,  and  spake 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  which  he  was  commanded.  And  the 
children  of  Israel  saw  the  face  of  Moses,  that  the  skin  of  Moses'  face 
shone:  and  Moses  put  the  vail  upon  his  face  again,  until  he  went  in  to 
speak  with  him."    Exodus  xxxiv.  29-35, 

"Seeing  then  that  we  have  such  hope,  we  use  great  plainness  of  speech: 
and  not  as  Moses,  which  put  a  vail  over  his  face,  that  the  children  of 
Israel  could  not  steadfastly  look  to  the  end  of  that  which  is  abolished: 
but  their  minds  were  blinded:  for  until  this  day  remaineth  the  same 
vail  untaken  away  in  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament;  which  vail  is 
done  away  in  Christ.  But  even  unto  this  day,  when  Moses  is  read,  the 
vail  is  upon  their  heart.  Nevertheless,  when  it  shall  turn  to  the  Lord, 
the  vail  shall  be  taken  away.  Now,  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit:  and  where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.  But  we  all,  with  open  face 
beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same 
glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."     2  CoiaNTiiiANS  iii.  12-18. 

It  appears  that  Moses  on  the  mount,  in  contact  with  the 
shechinah  or  glory  of  tha  Lord,  carried  otF  a  portion  of  it, 
shining  from  his  countenance ;  tlie  outward  material  splen- 
dor—  the  symbol  of  inward  repose  —  attracted  the  notice, 


348  THE    TAILED    rKOI'IIET  ; 

and,  as  we  shall  find  in  the  sequel  of  the  narrative,  alarmed 
the  minds,  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Before  I  advert  to  it 
further,  however,  let  me  notice  the  fact,  that  Moses  went  up, 
as  we  are  told,  to  the  Mount  Sinai  alone,  and  he  was  there 
with  the  Lord  alone  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  He  went 
up  into  the  mount  alone.  Of  course  in  parts  of  his  conduct 
there  was  much  that  was  official,  and  therefore  not  imitable 
by  us ;  but  in  his  own  character  and  conduct,  too,  there  was 
much  that  was  personal,  and  therefore  a  precedent  for  us. 
He  went  up  to  the  mountain  top,  where  God  was  pleased  to 
reveal  himself,  and  to  whose  presence  he  had  been  invited, 
and  there  alone  he  saw  what  God  was,  and  beheld  his  glory. 
We  too  should  go  up  to  the  mount  alone ;  we  too  should 
draw  near  to  God  in  personal  and  individual  communion. 
The  religion  of  many  is  that  of  the  crowd ;  it  burns  only 
amid  sympathy  —  it  is  kindled  only  by  contact  with  thou- 
sands ;  and  the  instant  that  the  crowd  is  dissolved,  and  they 
go  alone  into  their  homes  and  their  closets,  all  their  light  is 
put  out,  all  their  warmth  is  cooled :  religion  with  them  is  a 
social  and  public  sacrifice,  not  at  all  a  personal  thing.  But, 
if  I  understand  Christianity  aright,  it  is  emphatically  the 
individual's  transaction  of  an  everlasting  matter  with  God 
alone  ;  and  he  that  has  never  held  communion,  converse, 
conversation  if  you  like  —  for  it  does  not  need  the  lips  to 
speak  to  God ;  the  heart  speaks  to  him  and  he  can  speak  to 
the  heart  —  has  reason  to  question  the  dej)th  at  least,  if  not 
the  reality  and  substance,  of  his  own  religion.  Let  us  not 
forget,  as  an  illustration  of  religion  as  a  personal  thing,  that 
God  looks  at  each  individual  in  the  solemn  assembly  alone 
just  as  if  there  were  no  other  individual  in  the  universe ; 
he  looks  at  each  heart  as  minutely  as  if  the  only  one  in  this 
gigantic  metropolis.  The  interior  of  solemn  cathedrals,  the 
intricacies  of  individual  hearts,  are  luminous  and  transparent 
to  the  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  He  hears  the  beat- 
ing of  a  babe's  heart  as  distinctly  as  he  hears  the  rolling  of 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED.  349 

the  thunder  or  the  worship  of  tlie  cliernbiin.  If  wc  could 
only  realize  that  one  fact  —  if  we  could  only  insulate  our- 
selves from  the  crowd,  and  feel  that  we  are  just  as  ntdvcd  to 
God,  as  clearly  seen  by  him,  and  present  as  great  an  inter- 
est to  him  as  if  he  has  nothing  else  to  do  in  the  world  than 
to  minister  to  me,  and  forgive  me,  and  sanctify  me,  —  our 
religion  would  thus,  by  becoming  more  personal,  become 
more  deep  and  real. 

I  think  it  is  one  of  the  grandest  features  of  Deity,  that 
the  smallest  thing  indicates  an  expenditure  of  labor  as  great 
as  the  very  largest.  Take  the  wing  of  the  minutest  insect, 
you  will  fnid  that  the  texture  of  the  web  is  as  exquisitely 
woven  as  is  the  manipulation  of  a  fixed  star,  or  the  shaping 
of  the  big  bright  sun  ;  so  exquisitely  done  is  the  petal  of  the 
wildest  tield  flower  or  the  wing  of  the  beetle  or  the  bee, 
that,  on  examining  it  with  all  the  aids  of  microscopic  analy- 
sis, we  could  almost  feel  as  if  God  had  spent  the  last  five 
thousand  years  in  doing  nothing  else  but  shaping  and  weav- 
ing it.  It  is  the  evidence  of  his  greatness  that  the  very 
least  things  that  the  microscope  detects  are  as  elaborately, 
as  exquisitely,  as  beautifully  done  as  the  very  largest  things 
that  the  telescope  brings  within  the  horizon  of  our  view. 
And  if  that  be  so  in  the  material  world,  it  is  an  analogy, 
and  so  far  a  proof,  that  he  does  the  same  in  the  spiritual 
world.  A  believer's  sorrow,  his  sighs,  his  wants,  his  woes, 
the  world  cannot  see ;  griefs  and  tears  that  cannot  wash  out 
his  sorrowful  reminiscences ;  his  longings  and  his  yearnings 
after  a  perfection  and  a  beauty  that  he  sees  looming  in  the 
distance,  but  that  he  cannot  yet  grasp  —  God  understands; 
and  every  instant,  by  night  and  by  day,  and  everywhere, 
upon  the  mountain  and  in  the  valley,  and  on  the  ocean  — 
I  repeat  the  precious  thought,  a  thought  that  is  worth  re- 
peating—  there  God  is  present,  as  if  he  had  nothing  else 
in  the  universe  to  do  but  to  minister  to  that  individual's 
soul,  and  make  it  holy  and  happy,  and  fit  for  heaven. 
30 


350  THE    VAILED    PROPHET 

If  this  be  so,  let  us  try  to  realize  it.  The  fjict  is,  it  is  not 
more  knowledge  that  we  want,  not  more  novelty  brought 
into  sermons,  but  to  liave  the  same  precious  truths  reitera- 
ted, and  set  in  such  lights  that  we  cannot  mistake  them,  and 
accompanied  with  the  prayer  over  them  that  He  that  can 
preach  to  the  heart  would  so  impress  upon  that  heart  those 
pointed,  personal,  sanctifying  truths,  that  you  shall  feel  your 
soul  and  God  to  oe  the  only  two  grand  things  in  the  uni- 
verse worth  recollecting,  knowing,  loving.  That  we  ought 
sometimes  to  try  to  feel  alone  with  God  I  may  inculcate  by 
reminding  you  that  \Ve  must  all  die  alone.  What  a  thought 
is  that !  The  physician  may  accompany  you  to  the  sick- 
bed, beloved  relatives  may  sympathize  with  your  sufferings 
and  weep  over  your  departure ;  but  no  friend  on  earth  can 
walk  with  you  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  — 
you  must  die,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  that  expression,  alone. 
Is  it  not  well,  then,  when  we  know  that  all  human  friends 
must  leave  us,  or  rather,  when  we  must  leave  them,  save 
One  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother  —  is  it  not  well  to 
hold  communion  and  fellowship,  private  and  alone,  with 
him  now;  so  that  when  we  come  into  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  we  may  find  it  no  strange  place,  but  trod 
smooth  by  our  Elder  Brother's  foot,  resounding  with  his 
own  blessed  welcome,  and  teaching  us  to  sing  —  not  to 
say,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ?  " 

We  must  stand  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  —  and  I 
say  it  with  all  the  recollections  of  the  description  of  it  — 
alone.  True,  there  will  be  a  great  multitude  grouping 
around  the  Great  White  Throne,  with  different  aspects, 
hopes,  and  fears  within,  and  lights  and  shadows,  that  indicate 
fears  and  hoj)es,  playing  on  the  countenance  without;  but  in 
that  solemn  hour  every  one  of  us  shall  feel  at  the  judgment- 
seat  alone,  absorbed  by  what  each  of  us  is  within,  and  what 
God  has  been  to  us  before.     We  shall  feel,  amid  its  light 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED.  351 

and  its  glory,  as  if  none  but  God  and  we  were  tliere.  The 
silence  of  that  moment  will  be  so  intense  that  every  man 
shall  hear  the  beating  of  his  own  heart.  You  know  that  in 
moments  of  the  dreadest  suspense  —  upon  the  eve  of  battle, 
the  calm  that  precedes  it  is  breathless  and  inconceivable ; 
and  so,  at  any  great  crisis,  men  hold  their  breaths  in  silence. 
At  the  judgment-seat  you  will  feel  so  truly  alone,  amid  the 
intense  light  and  the  awful  silence,  that  you  will  feel  as  if 
God  and  you —  the  Judge  and  yourself  before  the  judgment- 
seat —  were  the  only  twain  in  the  universe.  How  important 
that  we  should  now  be  alone  with  Him  whom  we  sliall 
meet  at  the  judgment-seat !  How  important  that  we  should 
not  meet  a  stranger  tliere !  How  joyous  and  blessed  will 
be  that  view  when,  upon  the  throne  of  judgment,  is  seen  the 
Lamb  who  spoke  to  us  from  the  throne  of  grace ;  and  when 
we  shall  hear,  not  a  new  and  strange  sound,  but  the  old  and 
familiar  accents,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  ! "  Thus  Moses  went  up  the  mount,  and  held  com- 
munion with  God  alone. 

Lei  me  remind  you,  too,  in  the  next  place,  that  of  all 
things  Satan  will  make  the  strongest  efforts  to  avert  the  pos- 
sibility of  personal  communion  with  God.  He  will  not  care 
that  you  should  be  religious  in  the  crowd  if  he  can  only 
prevent  your  holding  communion  with  God  alone.  To  pre- 
vent this  he  will  give  you  every  excitement  you  can  desire ; 
he  will  divert  you  with  the  prospects  of  business ;  he  will 
involve  you  in  all  the  cares  and  pursuits  of  a  world  that 
must  pass  away ;  he  will  tempt  you  with  every  pleasure ; 
he  will  draw  you  under  the  influence  of  every  attraction,  if 
he  can  only  keep  you  from  personal,  close  communion  and 
intercourse  with  God.  But,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  there 
will  be  no  deep  religion  in  public  unless  it  be  fed  from 
springs  in  individual  lives;  there  will  be  no  warmth  in  the 
sanctuary  that  will  last  unless  it  be  kindled  from  individual 


352  THE    VAILED    PROPHET  ; 

hearts.  It  is  the  religion  of  tlie  closet  that  makes  so  real 
and  so  pure  the  religion  of  the  sanctuary  and  of  the  church 
without.  Some  perhaps  may  ask,  how  is  it  possible  to  have 
personal  communion  with  God  ?  We  are  so  constituted  that 
by  an  introspective  effort  of  the  mind  —  looking  within  — 
and  a  circumspective  effort,  if  I  may  use  a  corresponding 
phrase,  looking  around,  you  can  hold  intercourse  with  the 
absent  and  the  distant.  If  a  mother  has  a  son  in  a  distant 
land,  she  can  hold  communion  with  him  ;  she  can  think  what 
he  was  ;  she  can  recollect  wdiat  his  temptations,  his  weak- 
nesses, were ;  and  she  can  conceive  perfectly  how  he  feels 
towards  her  and  thinks  of  her:  and  thus,  by  an  intercourse 
more  rapid  than  that  of  electricity  itself,  the  broad  deep 
seas  are  bridged,  and  the  parent  holds  communion  with  the 
son  who  is  far  distant  from  home.  And  if  this  be  possible 
in  the  things  of  this  lower  sphere,  where  all  is  imperfect, 
and  limited,  and  obscure,  who  shall  conceive  it  impossible 
for  God,  that  fills  all  space,  penetrates  all  recesses,  is  here, 
and  there,  and  everywhere,  to  hold  communion  with  us,  or 
for.  us,  conscious  of  his  presence,  to  hold  communion  with 
-him?  What  is  prayer  to  him  but  speaking  to  God -^  and 
what  are  answers  from  heaven  but  God's  reply  to  us  ?  And 
wherever,  therefore, —  in  the  closet,  or  in  your  study,  or  in 
the  world,  or  amid  the  array  of  this  world's  difficulties,  — 
wherever  you  may  be,  you  can  lift  up  the  heart  and  feel, 
"  Thou  God  scest  me  ;  "  or  say,  "  Whom  have  I  in  lieaven 
but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  iijjon  the  earth  that  I  desire 
beside  thee ;  "  or,  "  Lord  Jesus,  remember  me  when  thou 
comest  into  tliy  kingdom ; "  or,  "  Blessed  Lord,  I  will  arise 
and  come  to  thee,  my  Father."  AVhcrever  such  expressions 
rise  from  the  heart,  on  the  stones  of  the  Excliange,  on  the 
floor  of  Parliament,  behind  the  counter,  or  in  the  counting- 
house,  they  are  ten  times  more  precious  than  when  they  are 
statedly  expressed  at  morning  dawn  and  at  evening  close  ; 
because  they  are  the  spontaneous,  the  unprovoked  expres- 


OR,    THE    GLORY   DIMMED.  863 

slons  of  a  heart  that  in  its  silent  depths  is  in  communion 
with  God,  and  lets  forth  only  the  incidental  evidences  of  its 
deep  and  solemn,  but  silent,  intercourse  maintained  within. 

Thus,  then,  we  see  what  is  meant  by  being  alone  with 
God,  and  having  personal  communion  with  him.  And  we 
may  say  that  w^e  always  climb  this  mount  when  w^e  pray, 
when  w^e  read  God's  word,  and  when  we  listen  to  God's 
voice,  as  proclaimed  by  the  preacher.  But  in  all  these  we 
must  recollect  this,  that  the  only  way  of  access  is  Christ 
Jesus ;  whether  we  pray  or  praise,  whether  we  speak  to 
God  or  God  speaks  to  us,  remember,  the  way  is  not  the 
mountain  that  Moses  chmbed,  but  the  sacrifice  that  Jesus 
made,  "  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life :  no  man 
cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  me."  Moses  before  he  went 
up  the  mount  offered  sacrifice  ;  we,  before  we  enter  into 
communion  with  God,  have  no  sacrifice  to  oflTer ;  for  this 
Christ  died  once  for  all ;  by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified ;  and  we  have  access  to 
God  by  one  Spirit,  through  Christ  Jesus. 

Now^,  having  thus  seen  the  lessons  that  we  may  draw 
from  Moses'  holding  communion  w^ith  God  alone  upon  the 
mount,  let  me  notice  another  feature  in  the  passage,  where 
it  is  said  that  his  face  shone  with  the  glory  when  he  came 
down  from  the  mount.  His  immediate  contact  with  Deity 
seems  to  have  left  a  portion  of  its  material  splendor  radiating 
the  countenance  of  him  wdio  was  admitted  to  so  close  and 
intimate  communion  with  God.  It  is  rather  a  singular  fiact, 
that  in  the  Vulgate  translation  of  the  Bible  —  that  is,  the 
ancient  Vulgate  executed  by  Jerome  in  the  fourth  century 
—  the  rendering  of  this  passage  is,  "And  Moses  had  horns- 
upon  his  face;"  that  is  the  literal  translation  of  the  passage. 
And  if  any  of  you  have  seen  the  paintings  of  the  ancient 
masters,  you  will  find  Moses  always  represented  upon  the 
canvas  with  two  horns  on  his  head,  whicli  is  evidence  how 
completely  a  tradition  has  become  belief,  and  more  espec- 
30* 


354  THE    VAILED    PROrilET  ; 

ially  how  it  is  possible  for  a  church  that  assumes  to  be  infal- 
lible to  start  upon  a  wrong  basis  notwithstanding  its  infal- 
libility, and  to  fall  into  very  great  absurdities.  The  Hebrew 
word  ibr  a  ray  or  a  beam  from  the  sun  is  y^p,  karan,  that  is, 
something  that  shoots  from  the  sun.  The  same  word  is  also 
used  for  a  horn ;  because  as  a  horn  seems  to  shoot  from  the 
head  of  an  animal,  so  a  ray,  or  a  sunbeam,  seems  to  shoot 
from  the  sun  ;  and  the  Vulgate  has  translated  the  word 
here  which  ought  to  have  been  rendered  "  rays  "  or  beams," 
by  the  word  "  horns."  Our  translators  have  in  one  instance 
made  a  similar  mistake  ;  and  one  which  needs  to  be  ex- 
plained in  order  to  be  corrected.  In  the  prophet  Habakkuk, 
in  the  third  chapter,  at  the  fourth  verse  it  says,  in  a  very 
sublime  portraiture  of  God,  "  God  came  from  Teman,  and 
the  Holy  One  from  Mount  Paran.  Selah.  His  glory 
covered  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  was  full  of  his  praise. 
And  his  brightness  was  as  the  light ;  he  had  horns  coming 
out  of  his  hand."  Now  that  is  a  perfectly  monstrous  repre- 
sentation if  one  were  to  understand  it  literally ;  but  when 
you  recollect,  that  the  word  here  translated  "horn"  is, 
f)roperly  rendered,  "  ray,"  or  beam  of  light,  then  it  seems 
perfectly  obvious  and  natural.  "  His  brightness  was  as  the 
light ;  he  had  beams  of  splendor  radiating  from  his  hand." 
Now  Moses,  going  thus  into  contact  with  God,  seems  to 
have  transferred  to  himself  a  portion  of  God's  glory.  And 
there  is  something  very  remarkable  in  this,  that  almost  every 
portion  of  Scripture  represents  the  moral  glory  of  God  to 
have  a  physical  and  material  splendor  that  compensates  for, 
by  overwhelming,  the  very  light  of  noonday  itself.  You 
remember  in  the  picture  of  the  New  Jerusalem  that  it  says, 
"  There  was  no  need  of  the  sun  nor  of  the  moon,"  —  not 
that  they  were  extinguished,  but  there  was  no  need  of  thera. 
Why?  Because  "the  glory  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  were 
the  light  thereof ; "  as  if  that  moral  glory  had  a  material 
splendor,  the  intensity  of  which  should  put  out  the  very  sun, 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED.  355 

and  moon,  and  stars,  by  substituting  and  rendering  tlieni  un- 
necessary. So  the  glory  of  God  that  shone  between  the 
cherubim  shed  in  the  darkness  of  the  holy  of  holies  an  un- 
earthly, but  an  unmistakable  splendor.  So  again  Moses,  in 
contact  with — what?  In  contact  with  God's  goodness  — 
for  it  is  said,  God's  goodness  was  his  glory  —  in  contact  with 
God's  goodness,  carried  off  upon  his  countenance  a  portion 
of  material  splendor  so  brilliant  that  the  children  of  Israel 
as  they  looked  upon  it  wondered  and  were  afraid.  And  we 
find,  too,  another  illustration  of  this  very  same  thing  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  where  we  are  told  that  Peter  and 
John  were  preaching  to  the  crowd  that  there  is  salvation  in 
none  other  but  Christ  Jesus  —  in  other  words,  they  were 
setting  forth  God's  richest  goodness  to  the  very  Jews  that 
had  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  It  is  said,  "  Now  when 
they  saw  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John,  and  perceived 
that  they  were  unlearned  and  ignorant  men,  they  marvelled  ; 
and  they  took  knowledge  of  them,  that  they  had  been  with 
Jesus."  John,  you  will  notice,  (Acts  iv.)  did  not  speak  one 
word  ;  but  stood  by,  backing  Peter  by  his  presence ;  but,  as 
far  as  eloquent  expression  was  concerned,  Peter  alone  was 
the  spokesman  and  the  preacher.  But  the  Jews  took  notice 
that  the  silent  John,  as  well  as  the  eloquent  Peter,  had  been 
with  Jesus  —  as  if  the  countenance  of  the  one  sustained  the 
preaching  of  the  other,  and  both  had  caught  a  portion  of  the 
glory,  by  contact  and  communion  with  that  God  whose 
goodness  and  salvation  they  so  strikingly  displayed.  And 
may  not  this  glory  now,  if  not  rest  upon  the  countenance,  at 
least  from  the  heart  reflect  upon  the  countenance  that  peace 
which  is  unmistakable  and  full  of  glory  ?  Just  as  a  lamp 
in  the  midst  of  a  crystal  urn,  will  send  its  beams  through 
every  portion  of  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  inclosed,  so  a  heart 
at  peace  with  God,  in  close  and  intimate  comnumion  with 
him,  will  radiate  its  influence  over  the  whole  material  econ- 
omy, and  the  world   itself  will  take  notice  that  you  have 


356  THE    VAILED    PROPHET; 

been  with  Jesus.  Socrates  believed  of  old,  and  there  is 
some  truth  in  it,  that  the  countenance  is  the  exact  exponent 
of  the  mind  within  ;  that  what  a  dial  is  to  the  machinery  of 
a  clock,  a  face  is  to  the  machinery  —  the  moral  machinery 
—  that  is  within.  And  you  will  notice,  let  it  be  the  ugliest, 
or,  to  use  a  less  offensive  expression,  the  plainest  face  in 
Christendom  —  let  that  countenance  be  lighted  up  from 
within  with  intellect  and  love  and  the  peace  of  God,  it 
shines  perfectly  beautiful.  A  face  that  has  all  the  beauty 
of  a  statue,  whether  in  man  or  woman,  is  utterly  worthless. 
Such  beauty  has  no  charm  at  all ;  but  a  face  that  has  not 
one  feature  symmetrical,  but  is  illummated  by  the  love  and 
light  of  the  religion  that  is  in  the  heart  within,  becomes,  to 
my  apprehension  and  to  my  taste,  perfectly  beautiful,  and  the 
evidence  and  the  index  before  God  and  man  of  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding,  the  joy  that  a  stranger  cannot 
intermeddle  with,  bathing  in  its  unearthly  splendor  the  coun- 
tenance that  is  its  just  and  its  natural  exponent. 

When  Moses  came  down  from  the  mount,  after  his  con- 
tact with  the  glory  of  God,  "  he  wdst  not  that  the  skin  of  his 
•face  shone."  The  Je^vs  saw  it ;  but  Moses  himself,  in  the 
old  Saxon  phrase,  "  wist  not,"  that  is,  he  was  not  aw^are, 
did  not  know  that  his  face  shone  with  splendor.  And  is 
there  not  here  a  very  suggestive  lesson  for  us?  They  that 
have  the  most  grace  are  not  least  conscious  of  it,  but  they 
are  most  humble  because  they  are  conscious  of  it.  A  Chris- 
tian feels  that  he  ought  to  be  humbled  for  his  sins  because 
they  are  his  own ;  and  that  he  ought  to  be  liumblcd  for  his 
graces,  because  they  are  not  his  own.  And  hence  you  will 
find  that  they  who  have  grown  most  in  grace,  have  gained 
most  richly  of  the  glory  and  the  goodness  of  God  by  contact 
and  communion  with  him,  will  themselves  least  be  exalted 
or  puffed  up  by  the  knowledge  of  what  they  have.  Abraham 
said,  "  I  am  dust  and  ashes  ;  "  Job  said,  "  When  I  saw  God 
I  abhorred  myself;  "  Isaiah  said,  "  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  a 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED.  857 

man  of  unclean  lips ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  Lord  of 
hosts  ;  "  Paul  also  said,  "  I  am  less  than  the  least  of  all 
saints  ; "  and  John  said,  "  When  I  saw  him  I  fell  at  his  feet 
as  dead ; "  teaching  us  that  when  we  see  ourselves  in  the 
intense  light  of  the  glory  of  God,  however  thankful  for  his 
apocalypse  of  himself  to  us,  we  are  humbled  by  a  sense  of 
what  we  are  in  ourselves.  And  therefore  it  is  beautifully 
said  that  Moses  wist  not  —  he  did  not  think,  he  did  not 
recollect  this  glory ;  he  was  so  thinking  of  his  own  un- 
worthiness  that  he  could  scarcely  venture  to  think  of  the 
worthiness  with  which  God  had  clothed  him. 

Yet  it  is  singular  enough,  in  the  next  place,  that  when 
the  Israelites  saw  the  glory  on  his  face^  and  informed  him 
of  it,  they  themselves  were  afraid.  Now  how  can  one  ac- 
count for  this  ?  One  would  have  thought,  surely  they  would 
have  hailed  with  delight  a  flower  from  the  garden  of  Para- 
dise itself;  surely  they  will  welcome  with  hosannas  a  sun- 
beam from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  himself;  surely  a  leaf 
brought  by  Moses  from  the  Tree  of  Life  will  be  more  pre- 
cious to  them  than  the  olive  branch  brought  by  the  dove  to 
the  ark  of  Noah  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  And  yet  they  are  not 
singular  in  this.  Adam  and  Eve,  you  remember,  hid  them- 
selves when  they  heard  the  footfall  of  God  in  the  silence  of 
evening  twilight ;  and,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  "  they 
were  afraid."  The  disciples  in  the  storm,  when  Jesus  walked 
upon  the  waves  as  if  they  had  been  plain,  w^ere  afraid,  as  if 
they  had  seen  a  spirit.  Why  is  this  —  that  heavenly  and 
eternal  future  things  make  mortal  man  afraid  ?  Why  is  it 
that  a  man  that  can  brave  the  bayonet  of  the  foe,  or  march 
up  in  the  "  forlorn  hope  "  in  the  face  of  a  park  of  cannon, 
shrinks  and  starts  back  when  he  is  brought  into  contact  with 
the  immortal,  the  eternal,  the  Divine  ?  How  do  you  account 
for  this  ?  There  is  a  very  simple,  though  it  is  to  us  a  very 
painful,  solution  :  it  is,  sin  in  the  conscience.  The  worst 
man  knows  well  that  sin  and  God  are  inlinite,  eternal  ene- 


358  THE    VAILED    rROPIIET  ; 

mies,  and  that  sin  must  be  extirpated  or  God  dethroned. 
The  fear  of  the  supernatural,  the  shrinking  from  God,  is 
just  the  effect  of  guilt  in  the  conscience,  which  often  mutters 
in  its  undertone,  what  it  cannot  believe,  "  No  God."  The 
Israelites,  had  just  sinned  —  they  had  made  a  golden  calf, 
given  worship  to  it  instead  of  the  living  and  the  true  God ; 
and,  owing  to  conscious  sin,  the  least  manifestation  of  Deity- 
made  them  tremble.  There  is  in  every  conscience  the  rec- 
ollection of  sin  —  it  may  be,  forgiven  in  the  sanctuary 
above,  but  not  forgotten  nor  forgiven  by  themselves.  De- 
cisive evidence  of  a  state  of  grace  is  the  absence  of  terror  of 
God.  All  man's  shrinking  from  the  future,  the  eternal,  the 
supernatural,  is  the  consciousness  that  all  is  not  right  be- 
tween the  individual  heart  and  God :  but  when  we  can  go 
into  the  presence  of  God  ;  when  we  can  stand  upon  the 
brink  of  eternity,  and  look  down  its  tremendous  steeps 
"without  fear  or  alarm  ;  when  we  can  look  up  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat, and  see  reflected  from  afar  its  unearthly  splendor 
and  yet  feel  peace  —  not  because  of  sinlessness,  for  that  no 
one  feels,  or  insensibility,  which  a  Christian  has  not ;  but 
because  of  sin  forgiven,  for  that  every  one  may  have  — 
there  is  the  greatest  proof  that  we  are  at  peace  with  God, 
and  God  at  peace  with  us.  The  best  test  of  character  is, 
how  you  feel  when  you  are  brought  into  contact  with  God, 
witli  eternity,  with  the  future  —  with  the  truly  and  the 
really  supernatural.  Men  can  play  with  the  sham  super- 
natural—  they  can  play  "  fantastic  tricks  before  higli  heav- 
en "  with  what  they  call  the  supernatural,  and  profess  to 
bring  back  the  spirits  of  the  dead  to  hold  converse  with 
them,  by  what  is  called  "  spirit-rapping,"  a  vulgar  and 
bungling  imposture.  If  Satan  were  in  it,  he  would  acquit 
himself  with  much  more  talent.  It  is  too  stupid  to  be  his  ; 
it  is  a  delusion  with  some,  a  deception  on  others,  and  impos- 
ture by  many  who  have  a  consciousness  of  the  supernatural 
that  they  cannot  quench,  but  whose  consciences  will  not  let 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMKD.  3-,9 

them  draw  near  to  the  holy  supernatural,  which  is  the  i)ros- 
ence  of  the  true  and  the  living  God.  AVIrmi  one  can  draw 
near  to  God,  and  hold  communion  with  him,  and  feel  peace, 
there  is  the  evidence,  not  of  sinlessness,  which  none  of  us 
have,  but  of  sin-forgiveness,  which  is  the  birtliright  and  the 
privilege  of  all  that  will. 

Moses,  when  he  saw  the  terror  and  alarm  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  did  —  what,  indeed,  vailed  the  impressiveness  of 
his  own  appearance  in  the  midst  of  them,  but  was  to  them 
an  encouragement  to  draw  near,  and  hear  from  his  lips  the 
wonderful  words  of  eternal  truth; — he  put,  it  is  said,  a 
"vail"  —  a  piece  of  gauze  —  on  his  face,  to  dim  the  sheen 
of  the  glory  that  shone  from  his  countenance,  that  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  might  look  upon  the  supernatural  which  was 
there,  and  yet  not  be  afraid.  They  were  not  in  that  state 
that  they  could  look  upon  such  a  manifestation  of  God  with- 
out terror  and  alarm.  Now  the  apostle  says,  in  the  passage 
which  I  have  read  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and 
which  is  the  just  and  beautiful  commentary  upon  the  whole 
of  this  incident,  that  the  Jews  still  see  Christ  through  a 
vail ;  that  is,  the  whole  Old  Testament  dispensation  of  the 
Gospel  is  seen  by  the  Jews  dimly,  darkly,  and  obscurely,  as 
through  a  vail.  Every  doctrine  is  seen  through  a  ty])e ; 
every  sacrihce  is  revealed  under  a  symbol,  as  a  mirror  of 
the  sanctuary ;  every  hope  is  embosomed  in  a  promise ; 
every  restoration  nestles  in  the  midst  of  a  prophecy.  The 
Jew  —  the  spiritual  Jew,  for  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one 
outwardly  —  sees  the  vail,  catches  some  stray  beams  of  the 
inner  glory  that  are  stricken  through,  but  he  cannot  behold 
in  all  his  naked  splendor  Him  who  is  the  end  and  the  sub- 
stance of  all  —  Jesus  Christ,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person.  The  Jew,  in 
the  synagogue,  sees  the  high-priest  still  stand  in  tlie  holy  of 
holies,  and  gaze  upon  the  glory  between  the  cherubim,  and 
bear  upon  his  breast  plate,  engraved  on  sparkling  gems,  the 


360  THE    VAILED    PROPHET; 

names  of  the  tribes  of  Jacob ;  but  he  cannot  see  the  True 
High-Priest,  who  has  entered  into  the  true  holy  place,  and, 
amid  the  glory  of  the  inner  sanctuary,  is  making  interces- 
sion for  his  people.  The  Jew  can  see  the  passover  lamb ; 
he  can  read  its  history,  he  can  regret  that  he  is  not  restored 
to  the  only  place  where  he  can  offer  it  —  Jerusalem  and  its 
temple ;  but  he  cannot  see  through  the  vail  the  true  and  the 
only  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world. 
They  have  not  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shin- 
ing on  them.  And  it  looked  to  me  a  melancholy  thing, 
when  one  evening  I  went  into  their  synagogue,  and  wor- 
shipped with  them  —  for  they  sang  some  precious  Psalms, 
and  there  Avas  something  beautiful  in  joining  with  a  child  of 
Israel  in  those  divine  hymns  which  are  to  us  performances, 
but,  alas !  to  his  ear  are  only  prophecies  —  it  was  melan- 
choly to  see  inscribed  over  the  j^orch  of  that  synagogue  a 
prayer,  that  God  would  send  the  Messiah  to  Israel ;  and 
one  could  not  but  breathe  the  prayer  that  their  eyes  might 
be  opened,  and  that  they  might  hear  from  his  own  Divine 
lips  the  words  that  he  uttered  to  one  of  old,  "  I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  he."  But  their  longing  will  soon  be  gratified; 
their  land  is  making  ready  for  their  return ;  the  Crescent 
wanes,  the  great  river  Euphrates  is  exhausting  itself  by  its 
immense  warlike  contributions  every  day  ;  and  by  and  by, 
when  exhausted,  along  the  dried  channels  of  the  stream 
which  is  the  Crescent's  apocalyptic  symbol,  God's  ancient 
tribes  shall  move  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  the  land  that 
is  dear  to  them,  and  ineffaceable  from  their  hearts  ;  and 
there  they  will  see,  no  more  through  the  vail,  but  face  to 
face  they  shall  see  the  glory  on  the  countenance,  not  of 
Moses,  but  of  Jesus,  and,  whilst  they  look,  they  shall  live 
for  ever  and  for  ever.  When  they  shall  turn  to  the  Lord, 
says  the  apostle,  the  vail  shall  be  taken  away. 

But  we  must  not  forget,  at  the  same  time,  that  every  un- 
converted man  —  and  the  apostle  teaches  us  this  distinctly 


on,    THE    GLOKY    DHIMED.  301 

in  this  passage  —  lias  this  vail  upon  his  face.  And  again, 
in  another  passage,  he  says,  "  The  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  they  are  foolishness  to 
him."  You  yourselves  know  that,  before  you  understood 
what  the  Gospel  is,  you  used  to  read  the  Bible  because  it 
was  a  decent  thing,  or  because  there  was  very  beautiful  poe- 
try in  it — and  there  is  poetry  in  this  volume  compared  with 
which  all  the  poetry  of  this  world  is  insignificant ;  or  you 
read  the  Bible  because  it  had  instructive  history  in  it :  but 
the  vail  was  on  your  heart.  Now  the  vail  has  been  taken 
away,  and  you  can  see  an  adaptation,  and  a  glory,  and  an 
excellence,  in  this  Book,  that  is  to  you  the  absolute  demon- 
stration that  the  vail  has  been  taken  away.  I  know  not  a 
more  triumphant  proof  of  the  divinity  and  inspiration  of 
this  Book  than  this,  —  that  the  longer  I  study  it  the  more  it 
becomes  new.  There  are  some  books  that  I  have,  and  that 
I  very  often  read  —  some  of  the  old  classics,  and  some  of 
the  modern  poets.  I  read  them  with  great  pleasure,  and 
return  to  them  again  and  agam ;  but  at  length  they  begin 
to  be  uninteresting ;  I  seem  to  have  exhausted  every  thing 
tnat  is  in  them.  But  I  find  that  the  longer  I  read  this 
Book,  the  more  of  novelty  I  find ;  not  new  doctrines,  but 
old  ones  in  new  lights ;  the  more  I  become  acquainted  with 
it,  the  more  of  the  live  glory  seems  to  leap  forth  from  its 
sacred  pages  ;  till  in  my  mind  there  is  no  one  thing  in  God's 
universe  so  absolutely  certain  as  that  this  Book  was  never 
"written  or  conceived  by  man,  but  inspired  and  taught  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

We  read,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  apostle,  having 
described  the  Jew  with  the  vail  upon  his  face,  or  the  Gen- 
tile, equally  blind,  describes  next  the  Christian.  "  We  all 
with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory, 
even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  It  represents  a  man 
looking  into  a  mirror,  from  which  some  of  the  heavenly 
31 


362  THE    VAILED    PROrHET  ; 

splendor  is  reflected  ;  the  rays  of  the  light  that  shine  from 
the  mirror  irradiate  the  countenance  of  him  that  looks  from 
a  distance;  and  looking  into  it  he  is  transformed  by  its 
glory  more  and  more  into  the  likeness  of  the  original  that  is 
there.  We  learn,  from  this  idea  of  the  apostle,  that  Chris- 
tians are  very  much  made  by  what  they  come  into  contact 
with.  I  read  somewhere  of  a  very  illustrious  painter  who 
never  would  gaze  at  an  ugly  or  an  imperfect  painting  for  a 
single  moment,  lest  it  should  exercise  a  deteriorating  influ- 
ence upon  his  own  beautiful  conceptions.  I  think  there  was 
truth  in  that ;  that  which  we  look  at  oftenest  transfers  itself, 
in  a  manner,  to  us.  There  seems  to  be  a  moral  daguerreo- 
type or  calotype  process  as  well  as  a  mechanical  and  a 
material  one ;  as  if  the  moral  character  we  most  constantly 
contemplate,  and  are  brought  most  continually  into  contact 
with,  exercised  upon  us  its  own  peculiar  character.  The 
man  who  is  always  making  money  —  the  miser  —  you  can 
see  that  he  has  been  in  contact  with  money,  and  with  noth- 
ing else.  Notice  the  man,  again,  who  has  been  in  contact 
with  the  grand  scenes  of  creation,  he  gives  evidence  of  it  by 
"the  expansion  of  his  countenance.  Everybody  knows  that 
wdiat  we  are  brought  most  frequently  into  contact  with,  does 
exercise  upon  the  countenance  as  well  as  upon  the  aflfec- 
tions,  the  sympathies,  and  the  passions,  a  very  distinct  influ- 
ence. And,  if  tliis  be  so,  how  important  that  we  should  be 
as  much  as  possible  in  contact  with  all  that  ennobles,  ele- 
vates, sanctifies,  adorns  !  When  you  come  into  contact  with 
something  very  grand  —  something  like  sublimity ;  if  for 
instance,  with  the  majestic  ocean,  when  it  rolls  its  waves  to 
the  strand  against  which  it  beats,  you  are  so  struck  with  the 
sublimity  of  the  scene  that  you  cannot  think  of  any  of  the 
poor  and  paltry  transactions  of  this  present  world.  If  you 
are  brought  into  the  presence  of  vast  mountain  scenery,  you 
are  so  elevated  by  its  grandeur  that  all  little  and  paltry 
recollections  are  dissolved  and  disappear.     So  when  you 


OR,    THE    GLORY    DIMMED.  3G3 

come  into  contact  with  tlic  great,  tlic  infinite,  thn  jjiorioug 
God,  and  drink  deeply  into  lii.s  spirit,  and  catch  upon  your 
soul  a  portion  of  his  glory,  you  are  moulded  silmtiy,  hut 
surely,  into  liis  likeness;  earthly  cares,  and  earthly  thoughts, 
and  earthly  anxieties,  are  lost  and  forgotten ;  and  you  can 
only  think  —  Avhat  you  feel  so  profoundly — of  the  hright- 
ness,  and  magnificence,  and  glory  of  the  Being  to  wlioui 
you  are  brought  near.  And  thus,  beholding  in  God's 
Word,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  G^d  in  the  countenance 
of  Jesus  Christ,  you  are  transformed  progressively  from 
glory  to  glory,  from  strength  to  strength,  till  at  last  you  ap- 
pear before  God  in  Zion. 

And  lastly,  even  this  is  not  done  by  the  AVord  alone, 
but  the  Spirit  also;  as  if  the  most  effective  mirror — God's 
Word  —  reflecting  most  purely  Christ's  glory,  were  not 
enough  to  transform  us  without  its  application  by  the  Spirit 
of  God.  The  word  of  God  will  be  the  savor  of  deatii,  ex- 
cept the  Spirit,  promised  to  every  one  that  a>ks,  is  pleased 
to  make  it  the  savor  of  life. 

May  God  make  these  truths  with  which  we  have  been 
brought  into  contact,  in  the  study  of  this  Book,  as  rays  of 
his  glory,  transforming  us  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord.     Amen. 

Love  the  Lord,  and  thou  slialt  see  huu, 

Do  his  will,  and  thou  shall  know 
How  the  Spirit  lights  the  letter, 

How  a  little  child  maj^  go 
Where  the  wise  and  prudent  stumble ; 

How  a  heavenly  glory  shines, 
In  his  acts  of  love  and  mercy, 

From  the  Gospel's  simplest  lines. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aaron,  ]\Io?es'  prophet,  61 ;  makes  the  golden  calf,  2GG. 

Affliction,  impatience  of  men  under,  70. 

Age  of  man,  64. 

Altars  in  the  Tabernacle,  234. 

Anger,  a  natm-al  passion,  97. 

Angel  — Lord,  22,  182. 

Apostolical  succession,  226;  Abp.  Whately's  offer,  227. 

Ark,  observations  on,  255;  its  contents,  273;  chief  glory  of  Israel,  261; 

grief  of  Eli  at  its  loss,  ib. 
Artisans  of  the  Tabernacle,  inspired,  239. 
Altar-places,  unscriptural  notions  respecting,  253. 
Bagster's  Engravings  of  Tabernacle,  259. 
Bible,  inexhaustible.  361. 
"  Borrowing  "  of  the  Egyptians,  28,  95. 
Brick  Pyramid,  42. 
Burglary,  law  respecting,  173. 
Burning  bush,  observations  on,  22. 
Bush,  Dr.'s  account  of  Mount  Sinai,  152. 
Calumny,  law  against,  178. 
Canaanites,  extermination  of,  vindicated,  282. 
Candlestick,  the  golden,  313. 

Catechisms,  Roman  Catholic,  garbled  quotations  in,  159. 
Cattle,  why  they  suffer,  77. 

Cherubim  at  Eden,  201 ;  over  the  mercy-seat,  259. 
Children  suffer  for  parents,  100;  inquisitive,  104;  to  be  instructed,  112. 
Christians,  not  known  by  the  world,  53 ;  privileges  of,  149. 
Christ,  the  everlasting  High-Priest,  152. 
Church  polity,  not  defined  in  New  Testament,  205. 
Consecration,  necessity  of,  237. 
Continent,  Sabbath  on  the,  244. 
Courtesy,  instance  of,  145. 


3G8  INDEX. 

Decalogue,  division  of,  159 ;  tampered  witli  by  Komau  Catholic  Church, 
ib.;  Christ's  explanation,  160. 

Education  should  be  Christian,  241. 

Emotion,  power  of,  296. 

Evangelical  Avorship,  233. 

"Exotlus,"  explanation  of,  1,  2;  value  of  the  book,  322;  how  to  be  read, 
323. 

Extermination  of  the  Canaanites  j  ustified,  282. 

Fasting,  the  true,  286. 

Fnyoum,  pyramid  of,  41. 

First-born,  sanctified,  110. 

"  Genesis,"  explanation  of,  1,  2. 

Gifts  of  intellect,  from  God,  240. 

Glory  of  God,  unbearable  by  mortals,  298;  fills  the  Tabernacle,  341; 
seen  in  the  smallest  things,  349. 

God  reveals  his  glory  to  Moses,  187. 

God's  mode  of  dealing  with  nations,  75 ;  leads  by  a  right  way,  112. 

God's  magistrates  called,  61. 

Golden  altar,  234. 

Grace,  definition  of,  291. 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  anecdote  of,  180. 

Howard  contrasted  with  Byron,  289. 

Hawks,  Dr.,  quotation  from,  6. 

Heaven,  earth  is  to  be,  250. 

Hengstenberg  on  plagues,  81. 

Hennlker,  Sir  F.,  account  of  Mount  Sinai,  153. 
■  Hieroglyphics  of  foreigners,  5. 

High-priest,  his  dress  and  office,  217,  etc. 

Holy  places,  distinguished,  210. 

Idolatry,  jealousy  of  God  against,  267. 

Israelites,  rapid  increase  of,  2 ;  their  persecution,  3-5 ;  their  labors,  6 ;  are 
refused  straw,  41;  beaten,  42;  reproach  Moses  and  Aaron,  43;  are 
exempted  from  the  plague,  77 ;  number  who  left  Egypt,  109 ;  why  led 
into  the  wilderness,  112,  137;  went  out  harnessed,  114;  take  Josepii's 
bones,  ib.;  terror  at  the  Red  Sea,  117;  get  safely  over,  121;  murmur 
for  water,  127;  for  bread,  130;  for  water  again,  138;  opposed  by 
Amalek,  141;  enter  into  covenant  at  Sinai,  184;  promises  to,  280; 
seek  an  image  of  God,  264;  AvorshIp  the  calf,  268;  their  punishment, 
272. 

Jerusalem,  its  probable  destiny,  255. 

Jethro's  character,  145 ;  his  advice  to  Moses,  146. 

Jewish  laws,  excellence  of,  171,  177,  183. 

Jews,  insulated  from  other  nations,  216. 

"Joseph,"  the  king  that  knew  not,  50. 

Joseph's  bones,  114. 


INDEX.  369 

Joscphus,  extract  from,  G. 

Judgments,  Divine,  similarity  of,  04;  just,  though  mysterious,  100. 

Judicial  laws,  171;  burglary,  173;  ti'espasses,  182;  respecting  strangers, 
175 ;  pledges,  ib. 

King,  or  dynasty,  new  in  Egypt,  3. 

"  Knew  not  Joseph,"  meaning  of  phrase,  50-58. 

Laver  of  brass,  23G. 

Law  given  from  Sinai,  148;  distinction  of  moral  and  judicial,  1G5. 

Lawsuits,  174. 

"  Let,"  explained,  41. 

Levitical  institutions,  reasons  for,  212;  significant,  234;  why  so  mimito 
and  precise,  311. 

Lex  Talionis,  explained,  169. 

"Looking-glass,"  explained,  318. 

Magicians  of  Egypt,  nature  of  their  miracles,  67,  69,  etc. 

Magistrates  called  gods,  61;  not  to  be  reviled,  176;  to  be  just,  179. 

Manna,  explained,  132;  not  found  on  the  Sabbath,  133;  lasted  forty 
years,  136. 

Men,  treated  as  rational  responsible  beings,  114. 

Mercy-seat,  its  position,  258 ;  God  answered  the  people  from  it,  if). 

Miracles,  what  are,  32;  Satan  may  woi-k,  ib.;  Romish,  33;  Egyptian, 
were  they  real  ?  65 ;  of  Jesus,  128. 

iloney,  ancient,  172. 

Moses,  birth  of,  13;  beauty,  14;  danger,  ib.;  preservation,  15;  named  by 
his  mother,  16;  his  faith,  17;  interference  in  behalf  of  his  brethren, 
ib.;  between  his  brethren,  ib.;  is  rejected,  18;  flees  from  Egypt,  19; 
dwells  in  Midian,  ib.;  his  marriage,  20;  the  Lord  appears  to  him  in  the 
bush,  22;  sent  to  Pharaoh,  26;  his  hesitation,  31;  God's  condescension, 
ib.;  Aaron  appointed  to  go  with  him,  35;  leaves  Midian,  ib.;  God 
gives  him  a  message  for  Pharaoh,  ib.;  Moses  goes  to  Pharaoh,  39;  the 
people  reproach  him,  43;  he  appeals  to  God,  ib.,  45;  God  encourages 
him,  45;  his  unbelief,  48;  made  a  god  to  Pharaoh,  61;  driven  from  his 
presence,  93;  departs  in  anger,  97;  firmness  at  the  Red  Sea,  118; 
his  song,  124;  smites  the  rock,  139;  pleads  against  Amalek,  142;  meets 
Jethro,  145;  takes  his  advice,  147;  Moses  on  IMount  Sinai,  184;  wrote 
of  Christ,  248;  tarries  in  the  mount,  264;  pleads  for  Israel,  268;  en- 
treats the  Lord's  presence  with  his  people,  274,  etc.;  vails  his  face, 
247. 

Mount  Sion  contrasted  with  Sinai,  150. 

Murder,  penalty  of,  170. 

Nadab  and  Abihu,  186. 

Name  of  the  Lord  proclaimed,  287-297. 

Newman,  Dr.,  on  miracles,  32. 

Offerings,  description  of,  229;  to  the  Tabernacle,  303,  310. 

Oppression,  debasing  eilcct  of,  18,  48. 


370  INDEX. 

Ovens,  Eg3^ptian,  69. 

Ox  or  ass,  law  as  to  stray,  180. 

Palestine,  fertility  of,  24;  future  destiny  of,  254. 

Passover,  institution  of,  101;  illustrations  of,  107. 

Paul  on  the  Tabernacle  furniture,  240,  etc. 

Pentateuch,  meaning  of,  1. 

Pharaoh's  heart  hardened,  observations  on,  35,  43,  62,  78;  refuses  to  let 
the  Israelites  go,  39;  demands  a  miracle,  64;  a  type  of  natural  men. 
68;  God's  dealing  with,  76;  Pharaoh's  confession,  80;  drives  Moses 
and  Aaron  from  his  presence,  93;  relents,  100;  lets  the  Israelites  go, 
116 ;  pui'sues  them,  117 ;  is  destroyed,  120. 

Pictures  of  the  Trinity,  offensive,  162. 

Pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  115;  a  type  of  Christ,  119. 

Plagues,  water  turned  into  blood,  66;  frogs,  69;  lice,  72;  flies,  ib.',  mur- 
rain of  cattle,  77;  boils,  78;  hail,  79;  Hengstenberg  on,  81;  plague  of 
locusts,  88;  darkness,  90;  death  of  the  first-born,  96. 

Precious  stones,  description  of,  222-224. 

Priest,  High,  Christ  the  everlasting,  151;  dress,  etc.,  of,  217,  etc. 

Promises  to  Jews,  230,  etc. 

Prophet,  the  vailed,  347-363. 

Pyramids,  work  of  Israelites,  5. 

Rabbim,  meaning  of,  178. 

Eed  Sea  opens,  120;  Moses  on  the  Egyptians,  121;  description  of,  ib. 

Recreation,  not  lawful  on  the  Sabbath,  243. 

Repentance,  God's,  explained,  269. 

Robes  of  the  high-priest,  217. 

Rock,  The  Smitten,  140. 

Romish  church  adopts  much  that  is  Levitical,  323. 

Sabbath,  transferred,  133,  163;  not  merely  a  Jewish  institution,  135;  how 
obligatory  on  us,  163 ;  the  index  of  national  morality,  164 ;  observed 
in  building  the  Tabernacle,  242 ;  a  precious  birthright,  ib. ;  how  to  be 
kept,  244;  to  be  kept  in  harvest,  285. 

"  Sandals,"  etymology  of,  23. 

Seventh  year,  law  of  the,  181. 

Shechinah,  The,  260,  328-346;  Jewish  notions  concerning,  332;  a  type 
of  Jesus,  334. 

Sinai,  giving  of  the  Law  from,  148;  contrasted  with  Mount  Sioii,  UO: 
identification  of,  152. 

Song  of  Moses,  124-127. 

Slavery,  nature  of  Hebrew,  165. 

Slave-trading,  an  offence,  168. 

Stephen's  description  of  Mount  Sinai,  153. 

"  Stone  of  Moses,"  140. 

"  Stool,"  correct  rendering  of,  4. 

Tabernacle,  account  of,  189-199;  typical,  199;  made  after  a  psttorn,  207; 


iXDi:x.  371 

furniture  of,  24G;  fillu.^ion  to    in   Ivcvclation,  251 ;  conijilction  of,  32); 

filled  by  the  glory  of  God,  341. 
Tables  of  the  Law,  written  by  God,  270. 
Unleavened  bread,  reason  of  its  use,  112. 
Voluntary  system,  204,  303. 
War,  lawful,  142. 
Wealth  of  the  Israelites,  317. 
Well  of  Closes,  128. 
Wickliffe's  prayer,  291. 
Wilderness  of  Zin,  130. 

Works,  minute,  why  commanded  and  recorded,  311. 
Worship  of  God,  localized,  201;   sincere,  acceptable,  everywhere,  202; 

instruments  of,  214 ;  form  of,  not  prescribed  iu  New  Tostaraent,  225. 


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